An airline pilot was cheered by passengers after he raided the takings of the bar and used his own money to pay the fees demanded by Senegal airport officials before they would allow the jet to fly home.
Captain John Lawrence was told to find two million francs (almost £2,000) by Dakar airport officials before the First Choice Airways jet was permitted to take off.
Flight FCA713 had landed at Dakar to refuel for its journey to Bristol after it had been unable to find supplies before leaving Banjul airport in Gambia. After the refuelling was complete officials at the airport made unexpected demands for a number of airport fees.
Mr Lawrence said yesterday: “I went to the cash machine in the terminal but it would not allow me to use my card. So I pulled together the cash float that we always carry together with my cash and travellers cheques and I asked the first officer for all the money he had.”
After cashing all the travellers’ cheques he went to pay the fees only to discover that the airport would accept only the local currency. He then had to return to the airport terminal to have the money converted.
Three hours later he was back aboard the Boeing 757. However, by then it was dusk and the airport authorities demanded a further £200 to switch on the runway lights.
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