A Kenya Airways (KQ) flight from Nairobi to London, UK landed safely at Heathrow Airport after an 'incident' on Monday afternoon.
The pilot declared an emergency mid-air after a passenger suffered a “medical emergency.”
However, at 15:36 London time, the crew changed the squawk code to 4040, indicating that they had successfully managed the onboard emergency and were proceeding with the landing.
A squawk code of 7700 is used to communicate that an emergency has occurred during the flight, which can encompass various types of emergencies.
“Kenya Airways PLC (KQ) confirms that on Monday, 9 October 2023, at approximately 14:19hrs, KQ100, operating from Nairobi to London Heathrow, declared a medical emergency after a passenger fell ill,” said the airline.
The national carrier said the crew on board provided first aid to the passenger and the pilot opted to return to London for the passenger to receive further medical attention.
“The crew on board, supported by two medical doctors and a nurse, provided medical assistance to the passenger. The Captain declared a medical emergency with Air Traffic Control (ATC) to expedite the landing for the passenger to receive further medical attention.”
“The aircraft landed safely at 14:47hrs and was received by medical personnel. The passenger was taken to hospital to receive further medical attention," it said.
"We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused. The safety of our crew and customers is our number one priority."
Flight tracking website, Aviation Source News said on its website that the Kenya Airways Boeing 787 between Nairobi-London Heathrow had declared an emergency over Paris.
On February 15, a Kenya Airways Boeing 787-8 flight scheduled to fly from London Heathrow to Jomo Kenyatta Airport at 10:15 GMT was forced to turn back 10 minutes after takeoff. It was suspected that aircraft faults caused the return to Heathrow.
According to eyewitnesses, the aircraft appeared to circle over South East London for about half an hour, flew towards the Channel, and continued to circle the air for another 20 minutes.
The technical issues experienced by the airline affected other airlines with the same aircraft models. Kenya Airways stated in response to Business Daily .
“The technical issues affecting some of our fleets also affect similar fleet types and ages worldwide. The above issues have no relationship with the current industry shortage of parts, as all maintenance schedules are being adhered to.”
The turnaround was due to a slat skew fault, which does not create a safety risk, but the airline had to take a precautionary measure and head back to Nairobi, Kenya Airways said in a statement.
