A fuel stop that should have lasted 45 minutes has turned into a weeks-long hostage-style standoff between two American pilots and Guinea’s military system.
Quick Take
- Two U.S. pilots, Fabio Espinal Nunez and Brad Schlenker, were detained in Conakry, Guinea on Dec. 30, 2025 after a Gulfstream IV landed to refuel.
- The pilots say air traffic control cleared the stop multiple times; Guinean authorities accuse them of an unauthorized landing and violating sovereignty.
- Families describe an armed confrontation on the tarmac, harsh prison conditions, and a court-approved release that still hasn’t happened.
- The case exposes a hard truth for international aviation: radio clearance, flight plans, and “the handler has it” are not the same as a landing permit.
A Routine Business-Jet Stop Collides With Junta Power
Fabio Espinal Nunez, 33, and Brad Schlenker, 63, expected Conakry’s Ahmed Sékou Touré International Airport to be a simple refueling point on a charter run moving a Brazilian family from Suriname to Dubai. Instead, Guinean forces detained them on the spot on December 30, 2025. Families and aviation reporting describe an armed response—dozens of soldiers on the tarmac—followed by searches, questioning, and a sudden shift from “transit crew” to “criminal suspects.”
Guinea’s stated issue centers on authorization: officials claim the aircraft landed without the proper permission and frame it as a violation of national sovereignty. The pilots’ side sounds mundane by comparison, which is exactly why it’s chilling. They say air traffic control granted clearance multiple times, and they believed any additional permit had been arranged through a local handler. That gap—between what pilots hear on the radio and what a state later demands on paper—is where this story turns ugly.
Clearance, Permits, and the Trap Business Aviation Can Fall Into
International business aviation runs on layers of “yes.” A flight plan gets filed, a handler gets hired, slots and overflight permissions get coordinated, and air traffic control clears the approach. Seasoned crews often treat the radio clearance as the final green light because, in stable systems, it usually is. In more brittle systems, clearance can be real and still not protect you if another arm of the state decides you violated a separate rule, or if paperwork fails to match the reality of the flight.
Reports indicate the pilots lacked a specific landing permit even though they believed the stop had been properly coordinated. That is the kind of administrative mismatch that should trigger a fine, a delay, or a forced departure after refueling—not an armed confrontation and incarceration. When a state chooses prison first, process second, the fight stops being about aviation procedure and starts being about power. That distinction matters for families pleading for help and for policymakers deciding how hard to press.
Inside the Detention: From Police Station to Conakry Prison
The early custody period reportedly began at a police station for roughly 10 days, then shifted into Guinea’s prison system in Conakry. Family accounts and coverage describe overcrowded conditions and basic needs met through outside support: food and supplies brought in by relatives, and limited phone calls that the pilots can make as Americans. That access to calls may sound like a small mercy, but it also functions as a pressure valve, keeping the men alive and connected while the legal and diplomatic machinery grinds slowly.
By early February 2026, the detention had stretched to six or seven weeks with charges still looming and talk of extreme penalties. A reported incident of gunfire near the central prison on February 10 added another layer of dread, even if no official link to the pilots emerged. When a jail becomes a place where rumors of unrest and violence circulate, families stop thinking in legal timelines and start thinking in survival timelines: tonight, this week, the next transfer.
Courts Versus Soldiers: When a Bail Decision Doesn’t Free Anyone
The most consequential detail is not the initial arrest; it’s what allegedly happened after. Families say Guinean courts, including steps toward the Supreme Court, moved in the direction of bail or release, yet the military blocked it. If that description is accurate, it fits the pattern seen in junta-led environments where the judiciary exists but cannot reliably overrule security forces. For Americans, this is the moment the case stops looking like a legal dispute and starts resembling an arbitrary detention problem.
The U.S. government’s role, as described in reporting, remains largely consular: awareness of the case, visits, and guidance on legal counsel. That’s the standard playbook when a citizen is jailed abroad, and it’s also why families go public. They want escalation—pressure that changes the incentives of whoever is holding the keys. From a conservative, common-sense view, protecting Americans overseas is a core federal obligation, but so is choosing leverage wisely when dealing with unstable regimes that may not respond to polite notes.
The Trump Appeal and the Broader Warning for American Travelers
Schlenker’s public appeal to President Trump captured the raw logic families often reach when traditional channels feel slow: only top-level attention can cut through. Critics can scoff at media appeals, but they serve a purpose. Publicity raises the political cost of inaction, and it signals to a foreign government that the detainees have names, families, and a spotlight. Guinea may still insist this is a sovereignty issue, yet the longer detention continues, the more it looks like leverage-seeking behavior rather than border integrity.
They need your help @POTUS
Two U.S. Pilots ILLEGALLY ARRESTED in West Africa During Routine Fuel Stop Beg President Trump for Immediate Help | The Gateway Pundit | by Jim Hᴏft https://t.co/3PLVJqZnYL— Fleabug (@MFleabug) February 19, 2026
The aviation lesson lands with a thud: never confuse “cleared to land” with “impossible to arrest.” Operators already know to triple-check permits, but this case shows the limit of checklists in countries where different power centers can contradict each other and where soldiers outrank judges in practice. The diplomatic lesson is sharper. When a regime can detain foreign nationals over disputed paperwork, every American traveling for business inherits the risk, and Washington has to decide what it will tolerate—quietly, or with consequences.
Sources:
Pilots jailed in Guinea during fuel stop, families plead for help
American Pilots Detained in Guinea
Chicago-area pilot detained during fuel stop in Guinea
Two American Pilots Trapped in Guinea After Routine Fuel Stop