The former international goalkeeper speaks on what they went through as they tried to land in Kampala after their 1978 Afcon final defeat
Ugandan legend Paul Ssali has revealed how the national team almost perished in a plane crash in 1978.
In an interview with New Vision, the former Cranes goalkeeper has explained how terrified the players in the squad were after they tried to land twice at Entebbe Airport on their return from Accra, Ghana where they had taken part in the 1978 Africa Cup of Nations finals.
The team was heading to Kampala after losing 2-0 in the final to the Black Stars when the Ethiopian Airways plane on which they travelled almost crashed at Entebbe due to bad weather.
“From Ghana to Cameroon, the sailing was smooth, the whole episode started moments after the captain announced that ‘soon we shall be landing at Entebbe International Airport,” Ssali is quoted as saying by New Vision. “It has been a pleasure flying with the deputy champions of Africa.
“As the plane descended it began to behave strangely; it suddenly dropped several meters and quickly gained height again. This would happen about six times, moving left and right that sent passengers in panicky mode, screaming and praying.
“Several passengers vomited due to the turbulence. When the plane gained stability, the pilot abandoned landing at Entebbe and instead headed to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Kenya where we learned how we had survived to crash.”
Ssali continued: “We were close to landing and had actually unfastened our seat belts, and we could actually see the Airport buildings but all of a sudden the plane took an almost 90-degree ascendency to the sky.
“We circled around the Airport for about ten minutes before we were told that we could not land due to bad weather, so we headed for Nairobi where we landed and spent two hours before we returned to Entebbe.
“We were all shaken and feared for our lives, the plane having changed direction all of a sudden.”
Ssali remembers vividly that it was at JKIA in Nairobi when the squad realised they had escaped a plane crash due to bad weather (fog) and while in Nairobi, most players had requested to travel to Uganda by road, a decision that was turned down by the team manager.
“In Nairobi, most of the Cranes wanted to travel back by road but the manager refused it,” Ssali continued.
“The trip from Nairobi was tension-packed but this time the landing was more comfortable and there was some jubilation from the Cranes with others shedding tears of joy. They had anticipated the same experience.”
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