This archive report was first published on 31 October 2019.
Published on October 31, 2019, Kenya's privately-owned airline, Silverstone Air, has come under scrutiny following a number of flight incidents in the past month.
Despite the incidents, the airline has successfully completed over 10,000 trips since its establishment in 2013, flying over 1 million passengers to various destinations in the country, including Mombasa, Lamu, Kisumu, Malindi, Ukunda, and Lodwar.
Accountable Manager Sheila Muturi stated that the airline has activated mitigating measures to prevent mechanical mishaps, ensuring that all aircraft will continue to meet the highest possible safety standards.
However, the airline has faced criticism after a plane carrying 55 passengers skidded off the runway at Wilson Airport in Nairobi three weeks ago, injuring nine people.
Additionally, a plane run by the same airline was forced to make an emergency landing at Eldoret International Airport after a wheel dropped off midair, just moments after taking off from Lodwar Airstrip.
Ms. Muturi attributed the wheel failure to a mechanical issue, stating that it was a wheel bearing failure, and that the airline has inspected its entire fleet as a mitigating measure.
Head of maintenance, Victor Gatheru, also defended the airline's safety record, stating that the life of an aircraft is not dependent on the number of years it has been in operation, but rather on the number of cycles it has made.
The Ministry of Transport's Air Accident Investigations Department has launched an audit of the airline, following the incidents.
