[2] On 11 October 1999, Phatswe commandeered an ATR 42-320 from the Air Botswana section of the terminal at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport and took off.

Officials in the tower attempted to convince him to land; efforts were led by General Tebogo Masire, then deputy commander of the Botswana Defence Force.

Shortly after being put through to Khama, the ATR-42 began to run out of fuel, so Phatswe carried out a successful landing, but instead of surrendering to airport security, he proceeded to taxi towards the apron at high speed, slamming the stolen plane into two other ATR-42s on the ramp.

[1][3] Phatswe had repeatedly threatened airport authorities, telling them that he would kill himself, but never gave a reason.

At the time of the incident he was on medical leave from the airline, having failed a physical two months previously and been declared unfit to fly; consequently, he was not authorized to take the plane.