Fly540 is among the many local airlines facing a slew of problems.
The local airline crash-landed on an airstrip in Lokichar Kapese, while en route to Nairobi. The aircraft was carrying Tullow Oil employees who were expected to arrive at Wilson Airport, after departing Lodwar at 9.45 am. The engine failed, causing the pilot to orchestrate an emergency landing at the Lokichar Kapese airstrip in Turkana South.
According to the official press release from Fly540, it is suspected the aircraft hit a foreign object strike, leading to engine failure. Fly 540 flight 5Y – CGH was en route to Nairobi from Lodwar, and despite the harrowing experience, no passengers were injured in the incident.
Low-cost carrier Fly540 has indicated that the incident will lead to delays in delivery of service. Moreover, the airline is suspected to have major problems with maintaining their fleet of aircraft.
In 2019, the safety of another domestic carrier SilverStone Airways was called into question following two incidents. In one instance, a Silverstone aircraft from Lodwar with five passengers on board lost its rear-wheel after takeoff on October 28th, 2019. The plane made an emergency landing at Eldoret’s Moi International Airport according to a report on The Sauce.
Shortly after the grounding of their Dash 8 fleet, Silverstone Air released a statement announcing the temporary suspension of all scheduled services.
Fly540 is yet to release a full report on the incident at the time of publishing this article.
