Kenya Airways Managing Director Allan Kilavuka and other top officials from the national carrier on Saturday, October 14 night hosted a surprise party for the crew behind the intercepted plane in London.
In a statement, Kenya Airways noted that the party was meant to celebrate their professionalism despite some level of fear and threat during the operation.
Kenya Airways praised the crew stating that they demonstrated high levels of aviation expertise and exercised patience during that tense moment of the security scare.
Photo: KENYA AIRWAYS/X
They also handled the situation well ensuring that all passengers remained put until UK military officials cleared the plane for takeoff.
“Last night, we hosted a welcome reception for the crew of KQ100 to thank them for their professionalism, patience, and going the extra mile to ensure the safety, security and well-being of our guests onboard,” Kenya Airways stated.
“We are proud of the team for showing leadership and taking the necessary security precautions, exercising a high level of safety measures onboard as per the aviation security training. You demonstrated the true spirit of The Pride of Africa,” KQ added.
Photo: KENYA AIRWAYS.
A Heathrow-bound KQ100, a Boeing 787, was on October 12 intercepted by Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jets and diverted to Stansted Airport over a “potential security threat”.
Kenya Airways said it received the alert and carried out a thorough risk assessment of the threat in conjunction with the security authorities.
After ascertaining that there was no security risk, the plane was cleared to leave.
“The precautions that we were taking was because that threat had been raised and so we just wanted to make sure that there was nothing untoward,” KQ CEO stated.
Photo: KENYA AIRWAYS.
