An aircraft and a helicopter are searching for a plane that went missing somewhere in Cameroon on Sunday evening with only the pilot Bill Fitzpatrick on board.
Fitzpatrick, who left Kano in Nigeria on Sunday never landed in Douala as planned and there has been no contact with him. He was planned to fly on to Brazzaville in Congo.
Cameroonian and US authorities are involved in the search for the missing pilot and plane destined for conservation work in the Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the republic of Congo.
African Parks, the organization that employed Fitzpatrick released a statement detailing the circumstances of the plane’s disappearance:
“Fitzpatrick took off from Kano in Nigeria on Sunday and was headed for Douala in Cameroon and then on to Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo,” the statement noted.
“Although scheduled to depart Kano at 14H00, he was delayed for unknown reasons and his flight only departed at 18H13. His last known contact was at 22H00 when he reported to the control tower at Douala that he was 65 nautical miles from the city. African Parks was notified on Monday that the aircraft had not landed at Douala and there had been no subsequent contact with Fitzpatrick.
“The newly-acquired Cessna 172 was recently flown from the US to Dakar in Senegal, where it was collected by Fitzpatrick on 19 June. His route plan from Senegal, via Mali, Niger and Cameroon, to Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo was organised by a UK-based flight planning and clearance company. The plane was to be used for conservation and anti-poaching surveillance in and around Odzala-Kokoua National Park.”
African Parks said the following about the pilot: “A US citizen and experienced pilot with more than 25 years’ experience, Bill Fitzpatrick was previously employed as a ranger and pilot at North Cascades National Park in Washington and prior to that at Artic National Park in Alaska. He joined African Parks as Odzala’s resident pilot in November 2013.”
