Plane carrying 32 passengers veers off Mandera airstrip

 Embraer aircraft crashes at Mandera Airstrip. [Courtesy]

The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has confirmed that the 32 passengers and four crew members involved in a runway excursion at Mandera airstrip are safe.

In a statement, KAA said the aircraft, which was operating a domestic flight from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to Mandera on Friday morning, veered off the runway during landing and came to a stop near the airstrip’s perimeter fence.

“Passengers and crew were safely evacuated, and appropriate ground support was immediately provided. There were no injuries reported among the passengers or crew,” the Authority said.

The cause of the incident has not yet been established, but investigations have been launched.

Friday’s incident adds to a string of recent aviation incidents in Kenya.

It comes weeks after another passenger plane veered off the runway at Wilson Airport in Nairobi. The aircraft was arriving from Kisumu on March 20, 2026, when it left the runway during landing.

On February 28, a helicopter crash killed six people, including Emurua Dikir Member of Parliament Johanna Ng’eno. Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital Chief Executive Officer Philip Kirwa said the hospital received six bodies that had been burned beyond recognition.

Residents said the helicopter carrying the MP crashed and burst into flames at the edge of Chepkieb Forest in Mosop, Nandi County, in the afternoon. Witnesses said the aircraft had attempted to take off from a makeshift landing site in poor visibility caused by heavy rain.

In 2025 alone, more than 15 aircraft crashed across the country, with many incidents linked to technical failures, human error, and increasingly unpredictable weather.

Among them was a Mombasa Air Safari aircraft, registration 5Y-CCA, which crashed in Tsimba Golini Ward in Matuga Sub-County, Kwale County, in October. Another was a Cessna Citation 560XLS operated by AMREF, which crashed in Mwihoko, Kiambu County, killing six people, including four crew members and two people on the ground.