French Military C-3 Plane in Emergency Landing at MBA
As reported in the Daily Nation:
As reported in the Daily Nation:
Seventy French military officers yesterday escaped death narrowly when one of their plane's engines caught fire over the Indian Ocean. Aviation officials in Mombasa told the Nation the pilot of the French airforce aircraft spotted fire signals, forcing him to activate the plane’s fire-fighting equipment before aborting the flight to Djibouti. The pilot was forced to fly for more than one hour on a single engine on his way back to Mombasa. A French airforce plane waits to be repaired at Mombasa's Moi International Airportto be repaired after it developed a mechanical problem on its way to Djibout yesterday. It was carrying French soldiers. Photo/Gideon Maundu The plane had left the airport shortly after 10am and returned two hours later. "One of the plane’s engines failed while it was on its way from Mombasa to Djibouti and the pilot managed to return," an official at Moi International airport said. Fire fighters and ambulances were put on stand-by for the emergency landing of the military aircraft, he added. The head of airport police, Mr Onzere Sagala, confirmed the incident, adding that the plane landed safely. "We received a distress call from a French military plane that had left Moi International Airport for Djibouti but it landed safely," he said. Efforts to get a comment from the French military attache` at the embassy were unsuccessful as he was said to be out of the office. The French military plane has been in the country for the past three days undergoing servicing before it left for Djibouti. The C-3 aircraft, which is based in Djibouti, is part of an international coalition to fight terrorism. The coalition forces are monitoring shipping activities and relaying information to the coalition's headquarters in Bahrain.