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American Pilots Arrested During Guinea Fuel Stop
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What happened on the tarmac Two American pilots on a… |
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What happened on the tarmac Two American pilots on a Gulfstream IV say they were met by soldiers instead of a fuel truck after landing in Conakry, Guinea for a scheduled refueling stop. Nearly 100 armed military personnel reportedly surrounded the jet, pointed weapons at the crew and detained the pilots on December 30, 2025. Guinean officials later accused them of entering airspace illegally and making an unauthorized landing. The pilots are Brad Schlenker, 63, from Illinois, and Fabio Espinal Nunez, 33, from New Jersey. The family who chartered the flight was Brazilian and headed to Dubai. How a routine stop can go wrong Charter flights sometimes rely on local handlers to arrange permits and fuel. Family sources say the crew believed the necessary paperwork had been handled on the ground. That claim raises a simple question. Was this a paperwork failure, or something more deliberate? Either way, the pilots say they followed air traffic control and filed requests to land. Airports and handlers in some countries run on different standards of red tape and habit. When those systems break down, pilots can be caught in the crossfire. Prison conditions and consular access Relatives describe overcrowded cells, dirt floors and…
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