KQ is investigating the incident that led to the temporary closure of the JKIA runway

Jomo Kenyatta International Airways (JKIA) temporarily closed flights on Tuesday afternoon.

According to Kenyan airport authorities, the cause was an aircraft incident. Shortly thereafter, the runway was opened for use.

Kenya Airways says one of the tires on the plane, which landed at 12:55 p.m., was damaged.

In a statement, KQ said the plane was diverted to Nairobi instead of Juba, where it was headed.

This came after the airport operations control team received a report from the Sharjah Airport Authority that there were tire debris on the runway.

It was suspected to have come from one of the Boeing 737 Freighter aircraft performing a routine operation from Sharjah to Juba.

“Upon receiving this report, our operational control team diverted the aircraft to Nairobi instead of going to Juba,” he told KQ.

Upon arrival in Nairobi, the aircraft completed a flyover and the KQ team determined that it had sufficient wheels to land safely as only one of the six wheels was damaged.

“The aircraft landed safely at 12:55 local time, but during braking and deceleration one of the remaining tires was damaged, causing the aircraft to strand on the runway,” KQ said.

Kenya Airways, in close cooperation with the airport authority and regulator KCAA, worked diligently to replace the tires and tow the aircraft to safety.

The aircraft was successfully towed off the runway at 2:12 p.m

KQ apologized for any inconvenience and reiterated that the safety of crew and customers is its number one priority.