Mid-air scare: Kenya Airways plane to Nairobi returns to Mombasa
Tuesday June 18 2019
A Kenya Airways plane flies over Nairobi on March 27, 2019. A KQ plane to Nairobi was forced to return to Mombasa mid-air on June 17, 2019 over a technical hitch. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
There was a security scare at Mombasa International Airport after a Nairobi-bound flight aborted mid-air.
Kenya Airways flight KQ609 had departed Mombasa at 5.45pm on Monday but was forced to return an hour later following "a fault in the aircraft's warning system".
In a statement KQ said the fault raised a false mechanical alarm, forcing the captain to take safety precautionary measures.
"After assessment, engineers declared the aircraft grounded," the statement reads in part.
On board were 95 passengers, some whom had to spend the night in Mombasa, and five crew members.
"Some passengers were accommodated on subsequent flights KQ617 and KQ619 while those with connections beyond Nairobi have been given accommodation in Mombasa to travel tomorrow (Tuesday) to their final destination," added the statement.
INCIDENTS
This is not the first time a KQ flight has aborted mid-air.
In April, another aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in Dar es Salaam after one of its engines caught fire mid-air.
All the 142 passengers and 10 crew members landed safely.
In February, the airline grounded another aircraft following a similar incident.
Boeing 787 Dreamliner en route to Johannesburg had to make an emergency landing in Dar es Salaam after it developed mechanical problems in mid-air.
Engineers in Nairobi had detected an issue with the aircraft but it was cleared to fly after it was established that it was a false alarm.