[Photo: The Star]
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has begun investigations into an incident that led to the temporary closure of the JKIA runway on Wednesday night.
KCAA Director General Gilbert Kibe says the closure was occasioned by a Fly 540 dash 8-300 aircraft that developed a nose wheel steering jam upon landing.
The KCAA boss added that several engineering teams from different airlines faced challenges as they attempted to remove the aircraft because they took into account the need to avoid breakage of the nose wheel.
“It took 4hrs 30min to remove the aircraft and resume normal operations. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the problem,” said Kibe.
According to KCAA The incident caused 15 diversions to several airports, including 9 to Mombasa, 3 to Kilimanjaro, 2 to Entebbe and 1 to Dar es Salaam.
“The incident caused much agony for travelers, especially those connecting to other destinations,” said Kibe.
Many of the affected took to social media questioning why it took long to address the issue while others asked how and why JKIA is running one runway with its status.