Two of Kenya Airways’s Embraer E190 aircraft were yesterday damaged outside one of the airline’s hangars. The incident involved 5Y-KYR and 5Y-FFF, which collided in a freak accident.
From information available it seems that one of the two aircraft – both were under maintenance – during an engine check ‘lost‘ the brakes, jumped the chokes and eventually rammed into a sistership, inflicting serious hull and other damage. At least one of the engines was also damaged.
No injuries of maintenance staff at the airline were reported.
Sources close to the airline attributed the accident to the lack of a suitable space for such tests, suggesting Kenya Airways may have saved money in the wrong place. The airline, hours later after initially stalling the media which was alerted promptly by circulating social media images, issued the following statement:
Kenya Airways would like to confirm an incident involving two of its aircraft Embraer 190 on Friday night, 8th February 2019. The incident occurred during a standard technical engine maintenance check at the hangar that caused movement of one of the aircraft hence the impact. Both planes were not in operations at this time therefore no passengers were involved. The airline can confirm that there are no injuries reported to any of its maintenance personnel following this incident. The two aircraft involved in this incident got substantial damage and have since been withdrawn from service for full investigations. During such incidences, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) and Kenya Airways Safety team are required by law to carry out full investigations and furnish a full report. This process is currently on going and once complete, repairs on the aircraft can commence. Both planes were scheduled to return to service in the next few days hence no disruption to normal operations. Kenya Airways shall advise should there be any impact on our operations.
With both aircraft due to return to service from maintenance almost immediately is it now advisable for passengers to check with the airline if their flights in coming days will be affected and to what extend.
Source: Prof Wolfgang Thome-ATC News
