An Ethiopian airline made an emergency landing

AN Ethiopian Airlines jetliner with more than 200 passengers onboard was forced to make an emergency landing at the under- capacity Arusha Airport. All the passengers and crew aboard the plane were safe. The incident involved a Boeing 767-383ER, Flight ET-815, which was on an international flight from Bole International Airport in the Ethiopian Capital of Addis Ababa to Abeid Amani Karume International Airport on Unguja Island, Zanzibar.

The giant plane was forced to divert from its targeted destination and make an emergency landing at the Arusha Airport in Kisongo area at about 1:20pm.

The plane, with registration number ETAQW, according to airport officials here, was forced to land at the tiny Arusha Airport after The Acting Managing Director of Kilimanjaro Airport Development Company (KADCO), Mr Bakari Murusuri, refuted reports that there was a problem with the airport's runaway and security system.

His statement followed the incident in which an Ethiopian Airways plane skipped landing at KIA and instead proceeded to Arusha Airport.

Mr Murusuri told the 'Daily News' that the airport had no problem whatsoever as other planes such as Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and Precision Air used the same airport.

"We are all astounded to hear these reports because everything is going on smoothly here. If there was any problem, we could have advised the pilot to land at Nairobi, which is only 20 minutes away," he said.

The runway at the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), where it was initially destined to land, was blocked by another plane belonging to Tanzania Flying Cargo, which reportedly broke down while taxiing.

However, the crew in the Boeing 767 cockpit initially refused to allow the passengers to disembark, explaining that they were not quite sure of the terminal's safety or facilities capable of hosting the more than 200 passengers aboard.

Arusha Regional Police Commander (RPC) Liberatus Sabas said there were luckily no injuries reported from the incident, which also caused a heavy traffic jam along the Arusha-Dodoma Highway. The airport was, however, temporarily closed.

The trouble was just how to get the passengers down from the plane. In fact, it took rescue ladders from the city fire brigade trucks to help passengers walk down the plane because the airport is not equipped with high enough step-ladders or passenger walkways to accommodate larger aircraft.

The Arusha Airport's runway measures only 1,620 meters long or 5,315 feet, too short for regular Boeng 767 operations, which means it took some crucial decision to prompt the high-risk landing at the terminal. The airport's elevation is given in official documents as 4,550 feet above mean sea level or 1,387 meters.

According to airport officials, the giant plane came to complete standstill just before the end of the runway. The Arusha Airport was again closed for any other flights in and out of the terminal.

Such closure affected other scheduled flights, including the Dar-Arusha Precision Air one, which normally lands there in the afternoon.

The airline's management had to reschedule flight time as it was also done for a number of charters to and from Serengeti, Lake Manyara and Tarangire national parks as well as the Ngorongoro Crater.