TheCable

About 100 Nigerians are currently stranded in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, after two different aeroplanes that were supposed to make the trip suffered what pilots and airline officials described as “engine failure”.

According to a Nigerian passenger who spoke with TheCable early on Monday morning, the first plane was scheduled to leave Nairobi on Sunday at 7:50am, but the officials shifted the flight to 11:05am “because of an operational problem” that was to be sorted out “soon”.

“We all boarded at about 12noon. The aeroplane was already on full speed on the runway and was about to take off when we heard a noise, so the pilot just slowed down,” the passenger said.

“People seated by the window side said they saw smoke oozing out, and fire service officials came over. There was an announcement that the plane had a problem and the flight could not proceed. They had to check us into the country.

“Kenyan Airways had to pay for our visas. A lot of people were angry, but the airline officials asked us if we would have preferred to die while airborne rather than their admittance that there was a problem.

“So we requested to see the manager of the airline. And when he saw us, he explained that what happened was that the engine failed. He said one of the engines failed; and the failure affected the other one.”

She explained that the manager then listed three alternatives that the passengers could choose from.

“One was to get another plane to fly us to Abuja. But he said they didn’t have at that moment,” she continued.

“Two was for us to wait for another plane to land; and as soon as it landed, we would be flown to Nigeria.

“Three was to wait till Monday. But then, he told us to give him 30 minutes to sort things out and he would get back to us. In the neighbourhood of an hour, he came back to say we would be checked into a hotel, and we would board another plane by 6pm – that is, 6pm on Sunday.

“We were taken to a hotel. And to be fair on them, we had lunch and we were comfortable. We were taken back to the airport, and we all boarded around 8pm.”

However, what happened after boarding was exactly the earlier occurrence – only that there was no noise this time.

“We took off with full speed on the runways. As we were about to take off, the pilot stopped all of a sudden. The pilot, a female, said she saw signals on her dashboard that something was wrong with the engine.

“We were all calm. She said they were going to correct the fault and we would move. But after about 15 minutes, we were beginning to ask ourselves that even if the aeroplane was repaired that night, what time would we arrive in Nigeria, considering that it was already 9pm in Nairobi?

“And what was the validity of whatever repair work that was done? Why should they just repair the plane and we would be flown in it without the airline test running it? So it was not making sense. Why should we risk our lives, after two different airplanes experienced the same engine problem?”

While some first-class passengers approached the pilot who said the plane was okay and good to fly, the economy-class passengers said they were not boarding.

“As we were disembarking, they were telling us that we would have to buy fresh tickets because they didn’t cancel the flight. But we insisted that it was not our problem; that they must fly us to Abuja.”

She revealed that about 30 members of the famous Dantata family, women and children, were aboard.

“I was asking the wife if she knew that if anything happened to the aircraft, part of their family would be wiped off.

“Eventually, Kenyan Airways had to check us into the country again. They bought visas for all of us, $100 per person. Then they had to check us into the hotel again.

“The latest arrangement now is that we would be airlifted at 7:05 am Kenyan time on Monday. It’s a 4hr 45mins flight. If I were to go by the details on my original ticket, then we should arrive in Abuja at 10:35 am Nigerian time.”

Despite already losing an entire day to the flight hitch, she praised the authorities of the national carrier for its management of the situation.

“Honestly, Kenyan Airways has tried, but people were just angry and frustrated. The first hotel we were checked in, the minimum per room was $270, while the one we are currently checked into costs more than $300 per night,” she said.

“So even though we are stranded here, we are very comfortable. We had good lunch, good dinner as well. To be very fair to them, we have been treated well. It’s just the inconveniences and the ups and downs.”