Engine trouble mid-air? Kulula flight forced into emergency landing

There was a little mid-air passenger despair, when a Kulula flight was forced to make an emergency landing due to engine trouble.

Passengers onboard a Cape Town-bound flight from Lanseria experienced something of a ‘flight-mare’ on Monday morning (7 March), after a Kulula plane was forced to make an emergency landing at OR Tambo.

KULULA FLIGHT IN ’EMERGENCY LANDING’

The aircraft ran into difficulties shortly after take-off. Early on in the journey, a technical issue was reported by the pilots. The plane then immediately changed course, and returned to Johannesburg. There are no reported casualties from this event, scores of passengers have had their travel plans derailed.

• Kulula has addressed the concerns on their Twitter page, and posted the following response:

“We are so sorry for the inconvenience to passengers affected by this morning’s diverted flight to O.R Tambo International Airport. The engine did not fail, but there was a technical issue that did involve the engine, and we are still investigating. At no time were our passengers and crew at risk.”

Kulula

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FLIGHT DIVERTED TO OR TAMBO OVER ENGINE ISSUE

Amid Kulula’s call for calm, a number of people on board the flight registered their complaints and concerns on social media – and there *might* be more than meets the eye with this particular ‘technical issue’:

• Some passengers reported hearing a ‘loud bang’ roughly 20 minutes into the flight.
• One of the engines was affected significantly by the incident, but the flight crew remained calm.
• The plane had to circle OR TAMBO ‘two or three times’ before safely touching down.
• It’s also understood that the MN451 aircraft experienced a similar issue LAST MONTH.

KULULA IN HOT WATER AFTER ‘MID-AIR SCARE’

Greg Leslie has documented his experience on MN451 this morning, describing the emergency landing as ‘the scariest moment of his life’. The traveller is now demanding greater accountability from Kulula, who are now left with a myriad of questions that need answering:

“There was massive bang 20 minutes after take off from Lanseria. All passengers safe, but we’ve been told this is the second time it has happened to a Kulula flight this year. It was honestly the scariest moment of my life – but the pilot was amazing in keeping everyone calm”

Greg Leslie

By: Tom Head