All 39 occupants of a De Havilland Dash 8-100 have escaped serious injury after a runway excursion and landing-gear collapse at Nairobi’s Wilson airport.
But a Kenyan politician who was among those on board the 20 March flight insists that the airport should be shut in order to take “urgent” safety action.
“Wilson airport must be closed and comprehensively upgraded to meet international safety standards before it is allowed to resume full operations,” says Orange Democratic Movement party deputy leader Godfrey Osotsi.
The aircraft (5Y-BXI) was being operated on behalf of Safarilink by aircraft leasing firm ALS, based at Wilson airport.
Safarilink says the turboprop was conducting flight 090 from Kisumu to Nairobi but suffered a “runway excursion” at about 20:55.
“Emergency response teams were immediately activated and attended to the situation promptly,” it says.
“Safety remains our highest priority,” the company states. “We have initiated a thorough investigation in collaboration with relevant aviation authorities to determine the cause of the incident.”
ALS confirms that all 34 passengers and five crew members were “unhurt”.
The aircraft, which appears to have carried out an approach to runway 32, came to rest on it fuselage underside. The extent of damage has yet to be confirmed.
Meteorological data for Wilson airport at the time of the accident indicates thunderstorm activity and rain in the vicinity.
Godfrey Osotsi says the runway was “flooded” and that the occurrence has “reinforced” concerns over infrastructure at the airport. He claims night flights are “often diverted” to the city’s main international airport owing to lighting issues.
Kenya Airports Authority says the aircraft “veered off the runway” and stresses that it is “fully committed” to the “highest standards of safety at all our airports”.
