Panafrican News Agency

Kenya: Bird strike stalls Singapore Airlines cargo aircraft take off, flights diverted

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - A bird strike on a Singapore Airlines cargo plane, taking off from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, caused the shutdown of the runway, leading to the diversion of incoming flights, airport authorities said on Monday.

The SQ7343, taking off from Nairobi to Amsterdam, suffered an engine damage after the bird strike, which forced it to abort take off, according to local media reports.

The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), which manages the airport terminal, said the runway was closed temporarily to ensure passenger safety.

The temporary shutdown of the runway forced most Kenya Airways inbound flights to suffer delays while two flights due for landing were diverted to Entebbe, Uganda. KQ had two inbound flights from New York and Mumbai, diverted to Entebbe.

-0- PANA AO/VAO 17April2023