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News Friday, February 11, 2000

Swissair plane in take-off mishap

By NATION Reporter

A technical hitch foiled an attempt by a Swissair plane to take off from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport yesterday.

There were a couple of loud bangs from the direction of the airport runway, which witnesses suspected emanated from the plane as it prepared to take off.

The take off was aborted and the plane taxied back to the airport's apron and passengers were asked to disembark.

Relatives and friends who had come to receive bodies of ten passengers who died in the crash of Kenya Airways Flight 431 were startled by the loud noise.

Those who tried to inquire what had transpired were kept away by security officers. A Swissair spokeswoman, who refused to disclose her name, said it was a "normal technical problem".

"You people are blowing this minor problem out of proportion. I saw it on Kenya Television Network at 1 o'clock and we were shocked. This was a small technical problem,'' she said.

The lady said the passengers had been booked in various hotels in town as the airline tries to sort out the problem.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), February 11, 2000