The Gambia soccer team was close to tragedy. Their coach, Tom Saintfiet, said he and his players feared for their lives after the plane taking them to the African Cup of Nations final made an emergency landing, delaying their arrival at the tournament in Ivory Coast.
The Gambia team left Banjul on Wednesday on a short trip to Yamoussoukro, where it will play its first two group stage matches, but minutes after takeoff they turned around due to a lack of oxygen inside the plane, he said.
“Fortunately for us, the pilot recognized the problem and after nine minutes in the air he turned to land again. “We all fell asleep,” he told Reuters.
Gambian full-back Saidy Janko, a former Manchester United player now with Swiss champions Young Boys, posted a detailed description on social media.
“As soon as we boarded the plane they hired to take us, we noticed the immense heat that left us drenched in sweat. The crew assured us that the air conditioning would start once we were in the sky,” she wrote on Instagram.
"The inhuman heat, combined with the lack of oxygen, left many people with severe headaches and extreme dizziness. Furthermore, minutes after takeoff, people began to fall deeply asleep."
“While in the air, the situation worsened, leaving the pilot with no option but to initiate an emergency landing at Banjul Airport nine minutes after take-off, which occurred successfully. If not for this, the consequences could have been much worse,” he wrote.
A statement from the Gambia Football Federation said preliminary investigations indicated there was a loss of pressure and oxygen in the cabin.
"However, the technical team of the flight's operating company, Air Cote d'Ivoire, is further evaluating the situation to establish what caused the lack of oxygen and cabin pressure," the statement said.
