An Embraer 190 passenger plane heading to Douala in Cameroon from Nairobi was redirected on Sunday, June 25, following an emergency alert.
According to live reports by Flight Radar 24, a real-time air traffic monitoring site, the scheduled time of departure of Flight 570 was 6:24 am while the arrival time was set at 9:35 am.
Hours after it took off, however, emergency reports were received from the plane and it was redirected back to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
The exact details of the emergency were, however, not clear by the time of publishing.
Kenyans.co.ke reached out to the Kenya Airport Authority(KAA) who noted that if the plane had been redirected, it was still in the air and hence, under the purview of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, a representative from KCAA argued that rerouting of planes was a common occurrence and was not a cause for an alarm.
"Redirecting of flights is a common occurrence and, therefore, if the plane has been redirected, I do not think it is a matter of concern because it will be well handled by the authority," the representative stated.
Passengers Options
The plane's rerouting meant that passengers aboard Flight 570 will have to find alternative planes for their travel once they are back at the airport or wait for the plane to be cleared to continue with the journey.
Alternatively, the authorities at the airport can choose to move the passengers to a different plane after they alight to allow them to continue their journey within the day.
In a separate incident on April 15, a passenger plane en route to Nairobi from Sudan was redirected to Athen in Greece following unrest in the country.
Responding to diversion reports, the airline's representative indicated that the decision was a safety measure because Sudan airspace was considered unsafe for the plane.
The move came after several other airlines suspended flights to Sudan including EgyptAir.
"In light of the information received about the unstable security situation in Sudan, EgyptAir announces to its valued customers that it will temporarily suspend its flights to Khartoum Airport, starting today, Saturday, April 15, 2023, for 72 hours," its statement read in part.
