A Kenya Airways flight from Zambia was forced to divert and land in Tanzania after attempts to land at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport failed.
The KQ flight708 had left Lusaka, Zambia at 3.45 am on Monday, March 16, 2020, and was supposed to land at JKIA in Nairobi at 7.45 am but due to bad weather, the plane was forced to divert and land in Arusha, Tanzania.
Reports say that the plane had been in the Kenyan air space for close to two hours but when the two attempts to land proved unsuccessful, the pilot opted for Arusha, Tanzania. The reports also revealed that it was foggy at the JKIA when the plane was supposed to land.
“It is true that the aircraft had to divert to Arusha as per our safety protocols. It couldn’t land at the airport (JKIA) due to a heavy fog cover in the morning,” KQ confirmed.
However, KQ officials confirmed that the plane landed successfully at the Kilimanjaro International Airport in Arusha, Tanzania at around 8.25 am.
Apparently, Arusha is the closest airport from JKIA since it would only take an average of 15 minutes and 25 minutes of fly time. For Mombasa and Kisumu, the plane would take 45 minutes to land. Eldoret has a small airport to handle a big airplane thus not considered safe.
As the Meteorological Department suggests, bad weather is likely to be experienced for the next two to three days due to Cyclone Herold. This will affect airlines landing at the JKIA.
“Based on the current position and projected direction for this cyclone, we are expecting a reduction of rainfall tonight and tomorrow.
“Once the Cyclone starts to weaken by the end of Wednesday as it moves E by S direction the rains will resume back,” the Mets told a local daily.