Kenya Airways (KQ) will pay UK firm Aviation and Aeroscope Consulting Services (ICF) Ksh25 million to investigate collision of two Embraer jets in February this year.
The company will investigate how the two jets collided while undergoing repair in a repair hangar, and present a report within a year.
“Kenya Airways has recently suffered a number of maintenance incidents resulting in serious damage to aircraft that could also have endangered the lives of those involved or those in the vicinity, the most serious being the collision of two Embraer aircraft during engine runs,” says ICF in its proposal for engineering and maintenance support for KQ.
Read: Plans To Nationalise KQ Almost Through As MPs Adopt Report
KQ said that they picked the firm due to lack of a local expert to investigate the case that led to loss of millions, and “a long-standing relationship with ICF, dating back to 2013”.
“There are no local experts who have the international recognition required for this assignment,” said KQ in a statement.
According to ICF, there are operational weaknesses in the maintenance programme of KQ that has seen several jets develop mechanical problems.
For instance, in June, a KQ plane was forced to an emergency landing 20 minutes after take-off, en-route Nairobi from Mombasa.
Read: Ex KQ Boss Titus Naikuni To Pay Sacked Staffer Sh10 Million
KQ however says that the weaknesses, which include capacity building and upskilling of staff though training, have been addressed.
“These include recommendations for capacity building and upskilling of staff though training and this was scheduled and done in conjunction with KCAA (the regulator). In addition, disciplinary measures have since been undertaken internally,” said KQ.
In the deal with ICF, KQ says that it has earned cost saving of about 5.5 per cent, but the figure could go up in case the investigation takes more time.
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