By Brian Okoth
A London-bound Kenya Airways aeroplane was on Thursday afternoon intercepted and diverted mid-air, 45 minutes before its scheduled arrival at the Heathrow Airport.
"Kenya Airways (KQ) confirms that on Thursday, October 12, at around 10:30am, Kenya Airways headquarters received an alert of a potential security threat on board KQ100 operating from Nairobi to London Heathrow," the Kenyan airline said in a statement.
KQ said the Kenyan and United Kingdom's governments were carrying 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 added.
Police confirm probe
At around 3:45pm GMT, the aeroplane Boeing 787, was diverted to the London Stansted Airport, some 100 kilometres from the London Heathrow Airport.
The plane was intercepted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jets mid-air, The Guardian reported.
The Essex Police said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that they were "currently attending an incident at Stansted Airport."
"A flight travelling from Nairobi to Heathrow was diverted to Stansted this afternoon," Essex Police said on Thursday at 4:35pm GMT.
Reports say that the KQ plane was intercepted in French airspace.
Marie Merrit, who was aboard the KQ plane, wrote on Facebook that "45 minutes before we were due to land (at the Heathrow Airport), we were told that we had been diverted to Stansted (Airport). When we arrived at Stansted Airport, (we saw) loads of police cars. We have been surrounded by police. They all have guns and are dressed in black (uniform). (The flight) captain hasn’t even said anything."
Communication uninterrupted
The UK's Ministry of Defence said that the KQ plane "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."
Some social media posts suggested that security officers had received intelligence of a possible bomb threat on the plane, allegations that KQ Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka has denied.
"There was suspicion of some of the people on board, but nothing to do with a bomb or anything like that," Kilavuka told BBC.
KQ said in a follow-up statement that the security threat was of "low credibility", and that the plane had been cleared for take-off to Heathrow Airport.
"No security incident occurred during or after the flight," KQ said in its subsequent statement.
