- Kenya Airways said the pilots were able to re-establish communications using an alternative frequency and continued with the flight
- The Kenyan carrier said the incident was not uncommon in aviation
- The company said an aircraft might occasionally lose contact with ATC due to various reasons, including power failure
Kenya Airways (KQ) has confirmed that its plane temporarily lost contact with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) while flying over Germany.
In the Monday, September 20 incident, the plane, 5Y-KZE, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, was en route to Amsterdam in the Netherlands from Nairobi.
Confirming the incident on Saturday, September 25, five days later, KQ said the pilots were able to re-establish communications using an alternative frequency and continued with the flight.
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Following the communication breakdown, Aviation Herald reported that two Eurofighters were dispatched to intercept the aircraft causing “wake up” calls by supersonic booms to many residents on the ground from Landshut to Frankfurt.
The interception resulted in the restoration of communication and the Dreamliner continued to Amsterdam for a safe landing about 30 minutes later.
A common incident
However, the national carrier said the incident was not uncommon in aviation.
The loss-making company said an aircraft might occasionally lose contact with ATC due to various reasons, including power failure, when flying in a region of poor reception or a missed frequency.
The airline, in a statement, said KQ and ATC in these jurisdictions were conducting investigations on the incident to determine the cause and take corrective action.
Salary cuts
In other news, KQ will not restore the salaries of its workers to a 100%, at least in the near term, TUKO.co.ke has learned.