Rep. Leland’s Plane Missing in Ethiopia : 9 Americans on Aircraft, Which Failed to Land at Refugee Camp

WASHINGTON — An Ethiopian government aircraft carrying Rep. Mickey Leland (D-Tex.), chairman of the House Select Committee on Hunger, and eight other Americans disappeared Monday on a flight from Addis Ababa to a refugee camp near the Sudan border, the State Department announced.

Department spokeswoman Greta Morris said the plane failed to arrive at Fugnido Refugee Camp, near the town of Gambela about 300 miles west of Addis Ababa, the capital.

“At this time the whereabouts of the aircraft and the party are unknown,” Morris said. “We are concerned about the welfare of Mr. Leland and his group. The embassy is making every effort to locate them.”

An official at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa said in a telephone interview that the plane, a De Havilland Twin Otter owned by the Ethiopian Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, carried Leland, eight congressional aides and embassy staff members and an undetermined number of Ethiopian government employees.

Dellums’ Aide on Trip

The Americans included Joyce Williams, a member of the staff of California Rep. Ronald V. Dellums (D-Berkeley), who was on the trip as Dellums’ representative.

The embassy official said the area between Addis Ababa and the border is mostly grassland but that it is remote and is not covered by air traffic control radar or extensive communications facilities. “That plane could have landed on any one of a number of airfields or even in a cow pasture,” the official said. He said the aircraft’s own radio uses “line of sight” transmission that probably could not be heard until an Ethiopian government air search begins this morning.

Leland was on a 10-day trip to Ethiopia, Sudan and Israel, according to press secretary Alma Newsome. He planned to return to the United States on Aug. 18. It was his second trip to Ethiopia this year.

‘Not a Cause for Concern’

“This is not a cause for concern,” Newsome said of the incident. “There are so many variables. For logistical reasons or weather, he may have decided to visit another camp. Or because of the curfew of 5:30 p.m., they may have stayed overnight where they are. We pretty much take communication for granted in this part of the world. But these things are not operative in Africa.”

Leland, 44, of Houston, was first elected to Congress in 1978. He helped establish the Select Committee on Hunger. In addition, he persuaded Congress to appropriate $800 million in relief aid to sub-Saharan Africa, much of it going to Ethiopia, which has been racked by famine for several years.

Despite the hunger in Ethiopia, thousands of refugees have poured across the border to escape the civil war in the Sudan. The Fugnido camp reportedly has about 40,000 Sudanese residents, about half of them destitute orphaned boys.

The U.S. Embassy official said the Ethiopian government began contacting airports in the area when the plane did not arrive at Fugnido on schedule. He said an extensive air search will begin at first light today.

House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) has been in close touch with State Department officials about Leland’s disappearance and was described by a spokesman as “deeply concerned.”

Times staff writers Sara Fritz and Lori Silver contributed to this story.