Kenya Airways blames Boeing for 787 London Heathrow diversion

Last month a Kenya Airways (KQ) Boeing 787 was forced to make an emergency landing at London Heathrow Airport (LHR), and KQ has blamed the aircraft manufacturer for the flight disruptions.

The Kenya-based airline also made two unscheduled landings on Boeing and Embraer planes at Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) and Livingston Airport in a month. KQ says that aircraft defects triggered the emergency landings, adding that other airlines operating the same models faced similar challenges.

Kenya Airways has stated that the quality issues do not affect the immediate safety of flights and that Boeing and Embraer are working on updates. We contacted Boeing for comment and will update this article with any response.

On February 15, a Kenya Airways Boeing 787-8 flight scheduled to fly from London Heathrow to Jomo Kenyatta Airport at 10:15 GMT was forced to turn back ten minutes after takeoff. It was suspected that aircraft faults caused the return to Heathrow.

It seemed to be a regular flight on this route. Still, according to eyewitnesses, the aircraft appeared to circle over South East London for about half an hour, flew towards the Channel, and continued to circle the air for another 20 minutes. The flight eventually headed towards Heathrow and made an emergency landing at 11:48 GMT.

The technical issues experienced by the airline affected other airlines with the same aircraft models. Kenya Airways stated in response to Business Daily;

“The technical issues affecting some of our fleets also affect similar fleet types and ages worldwide. The above issues have no relationship with the current industry shortage of parts, as all maintenance schedules are being adhered to. ”

Less than a week before the Heathrow return, the same B787-8 aircraft on a scheduled flight from Nairobi to Dubai diverted back to Jomo Kenyatta Airport a few minutes after takeoff. The flight took off 43 minutes behind schedule but was forced to dump fuel before returning to the airport.

The turnaround was due to a slat skew fault, which does not create a safety risk, but the airline had to take a precautionary measure and head back to Nairobi. Kenya Airways said in a statement;

“The air turn back was precautionary due to a slat skew fault. The root cause is corrosion in a rotary gear actuator in the slat system, which affects all 787 of a similar age to the KQ fleet, caused by a design flaw by Boeing that allows moisture to enter the system and cause the said corrosion.”

On February 8, a Kenya Airways Embraer 190 flying to Cape Town International Airport (CPT) experienced a technical fault and was forced to divert to Livingstone, Zambia. KQ’s management stated that the Embraer aircraft en route to South Africa suffered an inflight fault that caused the disruptions. Kenya Airways said in an email response to Business Daily;

“An E190 operated the Cape Town flight. Unfortunately, it experienced an inflight fault caused by a failure of a part known as P-ACE that affects the Embraer fleet worldwide. The part has been replaced.”

In other news, Kenya Airways has highlighted its strong stand against all forms of human trafficking. Yesterday, the airline launched its Trafficking In Persons (TIP) policy and public awareness campaign in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The fully endorsed program outlines the airline’s position against human trafficking.

The outreach campaign is designed to educate KQ staff and the public about the misconceptions, the realities, and how to identify and report cases of human trafficking. Kenya Airways CFO Hellen Mwariri Mathuka said, “We, therefore, stand against all forms of human trafficking, fully support the elimination of the exploitation of human beings and modern slavery, and will not condone human trafficking in any part of our organization.”

 The airline has invested in capacity-building programs to give its employees the tools to identify and report suspected cases of trafficking. KQ has realized that its employees at the airport and on flights are uniquely positioned to look out for this type of crime.

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