A Kenya Airways (KQ) flight from Nairobi to Heathrow, United Kingdom, was on Thursday, October 12 intercepted by RAF jets after “potential security threat” on board.
The Boeing 787 was instead diverted to Stansted Airport at around 10:30 am (Kenyan time), with the London Stansted spokeswoman saying it “landed safely with”.
An official of UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that the Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jets were launched to take control of the flight as a precaution.
“The civilian aircraft remained in contact with air traffic controllers throughout, and was escorted to Stansted Airport where it landed safely. This incident is now under the control of the civilian authorities,” the MoD spokesperson said.
KQ confirms incident
In a statement on Thursday evening, KQ confirmed the incident, saying that it received an alert of a potential security threat on board Flight KQ100.
“KQ management in conjunction with the security authorities of the Government of Kenya and the United Kingdom carried out a thorough risk assessment of the threat.
“The crew on board were briefed, and all safety and security precautions were taken to ensure the safety and security of our crew and passengers on board.”
KQ CEO’s word
KQ CEO Allan Kilavuka told BBC there were suspicious people on board the flight, but nothing to do “a bomb or anything like that.”
“The precautions that we were taking was because that threat had been raised and so we just wanted to make sure that there was nothing untoward.”
‘Nothing of concern’
At 8pm (Kenyan time), the Essex Police updated that there was nothing of concern on board the flight.
“Officers carried out enquiries and established there was nothing of concern on board. The plane has been handed back to the airport which has remained operational throughout,” Essex Police said on X, formerly Twitter.
