Ill-fated Air France aeroplane still lying at Mombasa airport

Air France’s Flight 463, which made an emergency landing at Moi International Airport (MIA) in Mombasa on Sunday, was still being held at the facility yesterday.

However, passengers of Flight 463 left Mombasa on Sunday night in a different aeroplane also belonging to the airline which owns the grounded aircraft.

A Kenya Airways jet at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa near the Air France Boeing 777. The plane’s passengers continued with their journey to Paris later on different aircraft. (PHOTO: MAARUFU MOHAMED/ STANDARD)

The aircraft, which took away the stranded passengers, landed at MIA at 7pm and flew off at 8.45pm, the same day after a thorough check was conducted on the passengers.

Some reports indicated yesterday the aeroplane, a Boeing 777 ER just like the one at the airport, was escorted out of Kenyan airspace by two Kenya Airforce F-5 jet fighters.

Security authorities in Mombasa have declined to divulge information about the fate of six passengers who were detained and questioned after the flight 463 to Paris from Mauritius aborted after what was initially thought to be a bomb was found aboard.

Hard landing

Air France has since claimed that the device found in the lavatory was a false bomb but Kenyan investigators have not disclosed their findings amid reports that an investigation on Flight 463 is still ongoing.

The Standard established the aircraft was being held at MIA yesterday as detectives were still inspecting it to find out whether there was any illegal substance and also because its emergency doors were damaged when fear-stricken passengers scrambled out on Sunday. It was also reported that the plane was under inspection for any other damage after it made a hard landing during the Sunday incident. The Standard was unable to establish whether Kenyan investigators had ended their investigations on the six suspects, all French citizens, as reports emerged that a retired policeman and his wife who were also on board the aeroplane were arrested by police on arrival at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris.

Kenyan authorities were said to have been angered by the decision by Air France to announce a report of its own investigation without consulting them.

The Guardian newspaper (UK) also reported yesterday that French police had detained a 58-year-old retired officer over the alleged false bomb.

Quoting Agence France Press, the newspaper said the former officer’s wife is also being being questioned as a witness.

And The Telegraph, another UK newspaper, reported the man in detention is from Reunion, a French territory in the Indian Ocean.

“The man was seen making several trips to the plane’s toilets before the suspect device was discovered, members of the plane’s crew told police,” The Telegraph said yesterday.

On Sunday, Kenyan detectives in Mombasa told journalists that the six French citizens detained for questioning visited the lavatory several times and were sitting at the rear of the plane. The detectives also said there were three women among those being questioned.