This archive report was first published on 12 August 2019.
On August 11, 2019, a Fly540 plane was about to take off from Manda Airport in Lamu when the pilot realized that one of the plane's tyres was stuck in a pothole on the runway.
The 36 passengers on board the Nairobi-bound plane were disembarked during the incident, which occurred at 12:30 pm. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
According to eyewitnesses, the plane had taxied on the runway ready for take-off when the issue arose. The tyre on the left side of the plane got stuck in a huge hole on the runway, causing the pilot to switch off the engine and abort the take-off.
Junior officials at the airport, who spoke to the Nation on condition of anonymity, said engineers and other staff were called to dig out the tyre using shovels and jembes. The plane was eventually pushed to a safer location on the runway, where it was checked for any damage before taking off safely at 12:54 pm.
Following the incident, travelling agencies, tourist stakeholders, and passengers have called on the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to urgently upgrade the Manda Airport runway.
