A Kenya Airways flight headed to Kigali Airport in Rwanda was on Sunday, December 17 forced to turn back to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
In a statement, KQ explained that the plane encountered low visibility and deteriorating weather as it was approaching the Kigali International Airport.
The flight made two attempts to land but they were unsuccessful forcing it to return to Nairobi.
“Kenya Airways PLC (KQ) confirms that on 17 December 2023 at approximately 07:45 hrs (East African Time), KQ 478, on a scheduled operation from Nairobi to Kigali, encountered low visibility and deteriorating weather on the normal approach to land at Kigali International Airport, after two unsuccessful attempts to land the crew elected to return to Nairobi for the safety of passengers and crew onboard,” read the statement in part.
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The KQ flight landed safely in Nairobi at 09:50 hours and the passengers are being transferred on to the next available flight.
“We sincerely apologise to our guests for the inconvenience and assure our customers that their safety and that of our crew is our highest priority,” KQ added.
The incident comes a day after another KQ plane headed to Dubai was forced to turn back mid-air and return at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) following a technical issue.
The JKIA Air Traffic Control team found tyre debris on the runway after the aircraft had departed.
For precautionary measures, the Kenya Airways operations team directed the flight to turn back mid-air.
The plane safely landed back at JKIA at 23:46 hours, almost 2 hours and 20 minutes after takeoff.
The passengers were provided with accommodation before being rebooked for another flight.
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