Contrary to what Cameroon Tribune reported earlier on the remains of the American pilot, William Fitzpatrick, whose Cessna 172 light aircraft went missing on June 22, 2014, while on a flight from Kano, Nigeria to Brazzaville, Congo, through Douala, Cameroon, the remains have not been removed from the crash site.
Speaking on phone yesterday, April 14, 2015, from Tombel, about 150 km from Buea, the South West regional headquarters, ‘Adjudant chef’ Ngoulouré Oumarou, the Commander of the Tombel Gendarmerie ‘Brigade’ or post, said they were instructed not to touch anything after reaching the site on Monday April 13, 2015.
Ngoulouré was part of a 12-strong team that made the 30-hour, 40-km round trek into the dense Equatorial forest on the Kupe-Muanenguba mountain from Eboko Bajo Village, beginning on Sunday, April 12, 2014. The village is located about 25 km from Konye town in Meme Division.
It was just a trip to confirm the information given by three local hunters from Eboko Bajo village who went setting their animal snares before stumbling on the wreckage on Thursday, April 9, 2015, Ngoulouré Oumarou explained.
Not even the medic on the team, Dr Njoh, was allowed to touch the skeleton of Fitzpatrick found in the cockpit; nor were any efforts made to look for the flight data recorder or ‘black box.’ The instructions were clear – “Go and confirm the site of the crash without touching anything,” ‘Adjudant chef’ Ngoulouré told Cameroon Tribune.
The team got out of the forest on the night of Tuesday, April 13, 2015 and returned to their base in Tombel, while awaiting further instructions from the capital, Yaounde.
Meanwhile, two gendarmes were left behind in Eboko Bajo, while the villagers were instructed not to venture near the wreckage. According to Ngoulouré, the site of the crash is so difficult to reach that only few people can venture.
It entails making one’s way through dense Equatorial forest, crossing streams and climbing and descending slippery hills before getting to the wreckage site on a hill side on the Kupe-Muanenguba mountain range.
Even after making the herculean trip, he admits that without the guidance of Nalovoka Oliver, Motia Ivo and ‘Alhadji,’ the three hunters who made the discovery, no one can get to the site.
Meanwhile, an attempt on April 14, 2015, by Cameroon Tribune to get an interview with the American Ambassador to Cameroon, His Excellency Michael S. Hoza, on the development and what his diplomatic mission was planning to do next, met with a negative response: “Thanks for your question. Due to Privacy Act of 1973, restrictions on the release of information concerning consular and privacy matters related to American citizens, we are unable to comment on this matter. We refer you to Cameroonian authorities for further questions,” was the terse answer.
William Fitzpatrick was the only one on board the plane with insignia ‘Ecogarde African Parks No. 9748N.’
According to information from the US Embassy in Cameroon, the pilot collected the newly-acquired Cessna 172 plane in Dakar, Senegal, on June 19, 2014, where it had earlier been flown from America.
The plane was to be used for conservation and anti-poaching surveillance activities in and around Odzala-Kokoua National Park in Congo Brazzaville.
A US citizen and experienced pilot with more than 25 years’ experience, William Fitzpatrick joined African Parks as Odzala’s resident pilot in November 2013.
