Details have emerged why a Kenya Airways (KQ) flight to London was intercepted by United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force (RAF) on Thursday October 12 afternoon.
Claims that there was a hijacker on board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that was en route to London Heathrow prompted the operation.
Officials aware of the developments said as soon as the plane was airborne from Nairobi to London, authorities in Heathrow informed the crew they had received information there was a hijacker on board.
The crew especially the pilots made a decision to proceed with their trip.
They were sure the screening at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport was thorough to allow a hijacker and armed with any threatening object.
Read: Nothing of Concern on Board Intercepted KQ Plane – UK Police
According to sources, the pilots decided to lock themselves in the cockpit for the entire six hours flight.
They told the attendants on board not to bother with them and instead address the passengers as needed.
And after entering the British airspace, they plane was diverted Stansted Airport where a thorough search was conducted.
The security officials who were waiting on the ground went to a specific seat they had been informed the said hijacker was seated but did not confirm the same.
It was later established the claims of the hijacker were false.
Read Also: No Security Incident Occured on Intercepted Plane – KQ Says
The plane was allowed to fly to Heathrow with the passengers and later flew with other passengers back to Kenya that night.
Kenya airways late issues a statement was cleared to proceed with the journey.
KQ said the security threat which caused the diversion was of “low credibility”.
“We received a security alert on the 12th Oct 2023 at approximately 10:30am, from the UK Security agencies. This threat has since been established to have low credibility,” said the airline in a statement.
It added: “The aircraft landed safely at London Stansted Airport, the incident has been stood down and the airport is open and is operating as normal. The security agencies cleared the aircraft and will be departing for London Heathrow to resume normal operations.”
Read Also: London-bound KQ Plane Makes Emergency Landing After Passenger Taken Ill
Kenya Airways offered to provide psychological support to passengers and crew affected by the incident.
“We sincerely regret the inconvenience to our passengers and crew and would like to thank them for their patience… We will provide any necessary counseling support and will communicate directly to our passengers on how they receive it,” added the statement.
According to Aviation news platform Simple Flying, the proximity of Stansted Airport to key Royal Air Force bases allows key resources to be swiftly deployed while the size of the location enables potential risks to be isolated from other areas.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner departed Nairobi at 9:18 am, after a 13-minute delay.
Many have termed the alert a false one probably motivated by business rivalry or a warning of a possible occurrence in the future.
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