Kenya Airways plane forced to abort take-off after false bomb alarm

A man has been arrested for allegedly raising a false alarm in a Johannesburg-bound Kenya Airways plane forcing the flight to abort take off at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi.

Police sources confirmed to Citizen Digital that the commotion began after a back-and-forth between the said passenger and a flight attendant.

It is alleged that the passenger mentioned the word ‘bomb’ during the argument, causing a scare in the plane which was taxing ready for take-off.

The suspect has been handed to the Anti-Terror Police Unit for further interrogation.

Meanwhile, JKIA remains on temporary lock down after flights were grounded for screening.

Kenya Airways has since issued a statement confirming the incident:

At approximately 1300 GMT today Kenya Airways was notified of a possible bomb threat on one of our flights.

The unfortunate bomb scare incident was reported on flight KQ 762, which was departing from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for OR-Tambo International Airport Johannesburg.

KQ would like to report that the passenger who raised the bomb scare has been taken into police custody.

All the other passengers and crew have disembarked for security re-screening and the aircraft is undergoing extensive security checks.

At Kenya Airways, one of our core values is the safety of our passengers and this is a necessary a precautionary exercise.

We work closely with the relevant law enforcement agencies, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and the Kenya Airports Authority to counter any security threats to our passengers and the country.

We will give you further updates as we get them.