Kenyan airliner goes off runway in Tanzania, injuring 7 passengers

USPA News - A Kenya Airways passenger plane carrying 55 people skidded off the runway Friday as it landed in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam during heavy rains, the airline said, adding that seven passengers were injured during the subsequent evacuation. The incident happened at about 2:34 p.m. local time when Kenya Airways flight KQ482 was attempting to land at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania`s largest city.

At least one engine of the Embraer 190 aircraft suffered damage when the plane skidded off the runway. "All passengers and crew were evacuated safely. We are cooperating fully with government investigative agencies in Tanzania and Kenya on this matter to establish the cause of the incident," said Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni. The airline said the aircraft was carrying 49 passengers and six crew members. Of those on board, seven passengers were injured during the evacuation process, though none of them were believed to be seriously injured. "We can now confirm that the total number of passengers who suffered injuries during the evacuation and had been transferred to hospital for further examination stands at seven," the airline said in a statement. It was not immediately known what caused Friday`s incident. Kenya Airways noted in its statement that the incident occurred during heavy rains, but Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) Director-General Fadhili Manongi was quoted as saying that one of the aircraft`s engines may have failed. Kenya Airways, which was founded in January 1977 and flies to more African destinations than any other carrier, is generally considered to be a safe airline, though its flights have been involved in two major accidents. A total of 169 people died in the crash of Flight 431 off the coast of Ivory Coast in January 2000 and 114 people died in the crash of Flight 507 in Cameroon in May 2007.