Pilot seized by angry passengers

Flights to the US have been suspended prompting chaos

Stranded travellers at Ghana's main airport held a pilot hostage when their patience over delays ran out.

The passengers had been waiting for days to fly on Ghana Airways - recently banned from the United States.

Police say a number of them stopped the pilot boarding his aircraft on Sunday and then held him against his will.

The pilot was freed after negotiations with police. "They were just giving vent to their frustrations," policeman Kofi Boaliye told AFP news agency.

He said they released two of the hostage takers after briefly detaining them.

The troubled national carrier says it is trying to acquire a leased aircraft to take over the disrupted services to Europe and the United States.

Crisis

Ghanaian media reported that President John Kuffour held an emergency meeting with airline officials and police on Sunday evening - after the hostage incident had been resolved.

Ghana Airways was stopped from flying to the United States late last month, pending an investigation into allegations that it flew unsafe planes and operated with an expired licence.

Many of the stranded passengers will have bought tickets to the United States before the ban was announced.

The Ghanaian carrier usually operates four round trips to the US a week.