A KQ flight to Dubai was on Friday night forced to turn back to Nairobi shortly after taking off at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
This is after tyre debris from the plane was found on the runway after the plane took off. This turnaround was confirmed by Kenya Airways.
“Kenya Airways PLC (KQ) confirms that on 15 December 2023 at approximately 21:20 HRS, JKIA Air Traffic Control encountered tyre debris during a regular runway inspection. Upon further inspection, it was established by the KQ operations team that the tyre debris was from KQ310, which had departed on a scheduled operation from Nairobi to Dubai,” said Kenya Airways in a statement.
“The KQ operations team contacted the crew and agreed on a precautionary air turnback to Nairobi for further technical attention. The crew followed the precautionary safety procedures in consultation with operations control and returned to Nairobi safely, landing at 23:46 HRS without incident.”
Why Kenya Airways is abbreviated as ‘KQ’ and not ‘KA’
The national carrier said that passengers were provided with accommodation as the airline made arrangements to rebook them on the next available flight.
“Air turnbacks are standard safety procedures in aviation. We sincerely apologize to our guests for the inconvenience and assure our customers that their safety and that of our crew is our highest priority,” said KQ.