The Associated Press
Monday, Oct. 11, 1999; 7:05 a.m. EDT

GABORONE, Botswana –– A disgruntled airline pilot today commandeered an Air Botswana plane at the country's main airport, circled above and crashed it into two planes on the ground in a suicide mission, police said.

The pilot, who died in the crash, was apparently alone aboard the 42-passenger craft. No other people were injured because officials had time to evacuate the tarmac, said a police sergeant who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The airline's other two French-built ATR planes were sitting empty near the terminal when the pilot took off without permission.

"He was communicating from the air with the tower," the sergeant said. "He did it intentionally. He wanted to commit this act. He said, 'These are my last words: I'm switching off the radio,'" before crashing the plane.

At one point, the pilot threatened to crash into the Air Botswana office building near the airport but changed his mind when told there were people inside, South African Press Association reported.

The pilot was angry with management and was not supposed to be flying, the officer said, who did not know the nature of the dispute.

The crash crippled the carrier in this sparsely populated country in southern Africa, leaving it with only one other aircraft, a BAE146, which has been grounded with mechanical problems, government flight safety officials said.

Air Botswana provides internal flights and service to other southern African hubs.