Poor visibility at Kigali International Airport forces KQ flight 478 back to Nairobi

Kenya Airways (KQ) has clarified why flight KQ 478 from Nairobi to Kigali was forced to make a U-turn and return to Nairobi on Sunday, December 17, 2023.

The national carrier explained that poor visibility at Kigali International Airport saw the crew abort landing and opt to return to Nairobi.

Kenya Airways in its statement released on Sunday, December 17, 2023 revealed that the flight made two unsuccessful attempts to land at Kigali International Airport and exercised good judgement to return to Nairobi for the safety of passengers and crew onboard

"Kenya Airways PLC confirms that on 17 December 2023 at approximately 07:45 hrs (East African Time), KQ 478, on a scheduled operation from Nairobi to Kigali, encountered low visibility and deteriorating weather on the normal approach to land at Kigali International Airport, after two unsuccessful attempts to land the crew elected to return to Nairobi for the safety of passengers and crew onboard. The aircraft landed safely in Nairobi at 09:50 hrs (East African Time)," KQ explained in its statement.

"The passengers are being transferred on to the next available flight. Air turnbacks are standard safety procedures. We sincerely apologise to our guests for the inconvenience and assure our customers that their safety and that of our crew is our highest priority." Added the statement.

Indeed Kigali International Aiprort was engulfed in a thick cloud of fog that hampered take-off and landing with other airlines also affected by the weather.

Rawanda’s Rwanda Air in that operates from its Kigali hub in an update shared that its operations were impacted by the weather.

"Due to poor visibility as a result of heavy fog at Kigali International Airport, we are expecting flight delays to/from Kigali. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause," Rwanda Air stated.

File image of a Kenya Airways plane Pulse Live Kenya

Today’s air turnback is the second executed by KQ in less than three days with the previous one being KQ 310 destined for Dubai which was forced to make a return to Nairobi on Friday, December 15, 2023.

A routine checkup by the airport’s Air Traffic Control team found tyre debris on the runway that the plane used while departing for Dubai.

READ: KQ flight to Dubai returns to Nairobi midair after debris scare

The crew of the flight was promptly contracted and agreed to turn back and head to Nairobi as a precautionary measure.

"Upon further inspection, it was established by the KQ operations team that the tyre debris was from KQ 310, which had departed on a scheduled operation from Nairobi to Dubai.

"The KQ operations team contacted the crew and agreed on a precautionary air turn back to Nairobi for further technical attention." KQ revealed in a statement.

“Air Turn back” is a procedure when an aircraft returns to its departing airport without it being pre-planned by the crew.