Flights resume into JKIA after daylong hitch

Airlines were forced to suspend their out-bound flights and those coming in for landing at the JKIA were diverted to the Mombasa Moi International Airport/CFM NEWS

Operations at the international hub were stalled for the better part of Sunday afternoon as airport authorities worked to clear the runway.

Airlines were forced to suspend their out-bound flights and those coming in for landing at the JKIA were diverted to the Mombasa Moi International Airport.

Acting JKIA Manager Charles Owino told Capital FM News that the Fokker plane pilot was forced to execute a belly landing after the landing mechanism failed.

“While taking off from Wajir, a bird was sucked into its engine and it compromised the landing mechanism. The pilot was unable to lower one of the wheels when they approached Wilson (airport). So he asked for permission to belly-land at the JKIA and I have to say, it was beautifully executed,” he explained.

All 10 passengers and crew on board the plane, he also said, were safe and were not injured during the landing.

About The Author

OLIVE BURROWS

With a decade of storytelling under her belt, Olive Burrows has been with Capital FM for the last four years and perhaps most notably interviewed US President Barack Obama. Committed to asking the hard questions and telling the story in the most engaging way possible, she has also interviewed Melinda Gates, a UK Minister and severally had the opportunity to sit across from President Uhuru Kenyatta and address the pressing issues of the day. Other notables she has had occasion to seek answers from are UN Secretary General António Guterres and John Kerry in his time as US Secretary of State.

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