This archive report was first published on 7 November 2019.
On November 7, 2019, a Kenya Airways flight bound for Nairobi was forced to turn back to Johannesburg after a stowaway was allegedly discovered midair.
The Boeing 787-8 plane, KQ761, had left Oliver Tambo Airport at 12:10 South African time, but was turned around 30 minutes later after the pilot was alerted to the presence of a maintenance engineer on board.
According to the Aviation Herald, the crew was informed that a maintenance engineer should have been left in Johannesburg.
“…the crew was informed a maintenance engineer should have been left in Johannesburg,” the Aviation Herald reported.
The maintenance engineer was allegedly found after the plane landed on the runway. A crew member was quoted as saying, “He’s here and conscious!”
The plane resumed its journey to Nairobi an hour later.
Kenya Airways later stated that the flight had turned back due to operational reasons, but did not provide further details.
This incident comes just months after a dead stowaway was discovered on a Kenya Airways flight headed to London from Nairobi.
