Two innocent American citizens have been rotting in a brutal, third-world West African prison for nearly two months after being ambushed by a heavily armed military squad during a routine fuel stop.
Now, facing horrific conditions with no end in sight, they are begging President Donald Trump to step in and save them.
Veteran pilot Brad Schlenker, 63, of Illinois, and fellow American pilot Fabio Espinal Nunez, 33, of New Jersey, were operating a Gulfstream IV charter flight transporting a Brazilian family from Suriname to Dubai when they made a scheduled refueling stop in Conakry, Guinea in late December 2025.
They did everything by the book. They communicated with air traffic control.
They requested—and received—clearance to land at Ahmed Sékou Touré International Airport in the Republic of Guinea for a simple refueling stop.
Instead of a fuel truck, they were met by a terrifying military ambush.
As soon as the plane touched the tarmac, nearly 100 heavily armed Guinean military personnel swarmed the aircraft. They pointed AK-47s at the terrified American pilots, screaming at them in French, and dragged them off the runway.
The two American pilots were immediately detained.
Guinean authorities later accused the pilots of:
- Violating national sovereignty
- Entering airspace illegally
- Making an unauthorized landing
- Endangering national defense
Aerotime reported:
A family source familiar with the trip told AeroTime that the crew believed required permits for the fuel stop had been arranged by a local handler, raising questions about whether the detention stems from a paperwork failure or something more deliberate. The same source alleged that, after initially being held at a police station for roughly 10 days, the pilots were moved into Conakry’s prison system and threatened with a sentence of up to 20 years.
Conditions inside the prison have become a central point of concern for relatives. Stevenson told People.com that the facility is severely overcrowded and detainees rely on outside support for food. She described dirt floors, limited sanitation, and prisoners taking turns sleeping. A US State Department spokesperson said that the department is aware of the detention and that consular officers have visited the pilots multiple times since late December 2025.
The pilots’ families are now publicly urging the Trump administration to intervene. In an interview with CBS News, Schlenker directly appealed to President Trump for help.
Hellbound and Down 