Kenya Airways Pilot Ruth Karuri became an overnight sensation after landing a plane safely in an extreme weather condition.
Captain Ruth together with First Officer Ayoob Harunany landed skillfully in the midst of Storm Eunice at Heathrow Airport in London, United Kingdom .
The successful landing happened on Friday February 18, when she was flying the KQ100 B787 and Kenyans have not ceased commending her bravery.
According to the captain, the mission was a success due to the training they received at Kenya Airways over the years.”The flight conditions were strong gusting winds and it was quite a bumpy ride. However, thanks to the training we have had at Kenya Airways, particularly in the simulator, prepared us for such a scenario.
We used all our training expertise and skills that we have managed to learn over the years at Kenya Airways and we handled the learning expertly,” Ruth explained.
Aside from being a captain, Ruth is the wife of Sport Pesa CEO Ronald Karauri and a mother of two girls and one boy. Her husband was also a pilot at KQ before he ventured into the betting business.
Ruth’s interest in becoming a pilot developed when she was in class 2 at the age of 8 years but the dream was almost thwarted due to the expensive training that required millions as fees.
After form four as she was getting ready for her Electrical engineering university course, she came across an advert by Kenya airways that was seeking people with little or no flight experience to be trained and absorbed by the airline, a program referred to as Ab Initio.
That is how her journey of being a pilot started. Over three thousands people, some with degrees, applied for the training but Ruth managed to be among the 15 finalists who qualified for the training and for the first time in her life, she boarded a plane to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where the training was going place. She was absorbed after the training and worked hard all the way to the top.
