A Silverstone aircraft on Monday made an emergency landing at Eldoret International Airport after one of its wheel tyres dropped off mid-air.
The plane with four passengers and five crew landed safely.
The company said in a statement that the plane lost the tyre soon after takeoff from Lodwar.
“Our flight, Dash 8-300 from Lodwar to Nairobi, experienced an incident during take-off and as a result lost the number 3 wheel assembly,” the statement said.
The captain diverted the flight to Eldoret for the safety of passengers and the crew.
“This was a precautionary action and the aircraft landed safely,” the statement added.
The passengers were rebooked and later landed safely in Nairobi.
“We would like to thank our employees, passengers and key stakeholders for your continued understanding,” the company said.
Uasin Gishu police commander Johnstone Ipara land a team of the security officers received the aircraft at the airport.
“We received a report that the plane had taken off from Lodwar and had experienced technical problems and that it would make an emergency landing in Eldoret. We immediately activated all emergency operations as required before the aircraft arrived,” Ipara said.
“The pilot did a very professional job and had assured the passengers of their safety,” he said.
The police boss said incident was being investigated. Lodwar airstrip officials picked the tyre soon after the aircraft left.
The passengers said they were alerted of the emergency landing. A combined emergency team of Uasin Gishu county government and the Kenya Airport Authority was at the airport for any eventuality.
Three weeks ago, a Lamu-bound plane belonging to the same company crash-landed on the runway at Wilson Airport in Nairobi shortly after takeoff.
The 5Y-IZO flight had five crew members and 50 passengers. Two of the travellers were injured.
