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| Date: | Sunday 8 November 1998 |
| Time: | c. 20:48 LT |
| Type: |  Airbus A310-304 |
| Owner/operator: | Kenya Airways |
| Registration: | 5Y-BFT |
| MSN: | 519 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1989 |
| Engine model: | GE CF6-80C2A2 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 212 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | near London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) |
| Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO/HKJK) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The aircraft was departing Heathrow for Nairobi Airport on a Midhurst 3G Standard Instrument
Departure (SID). It appeared to take off normally and climb to about 600 feet agl before the nose
dropped and the aircraft lost height. After a few seconds the aircraft regained a normal climbing
flight path and continued the departure. The visibility was reported as 10 km with few at 1,200 feet
and overcast at 1,700 feet.
The manoeuvre was seen by people who reported the aircraft's abnormal behaviour to air traffic
control. Later during the departure, when the flight crew were asked if they had encountered a
problem after take off, the reply was "we had a problem with our landing gear, it refused to go up
and we had a slight problem with the flight director". The AAIB were informed whereupon relevant
radar and RTF tapes were impounded for analysis.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422fce940f0b613420007ff/dft_avsafety_pdf_500157.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/6534766 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 20 February 2000 | 5Y-BFT | Kenya Airways | 0 | London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) | |
min |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Oct-2025 18:54 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 01-Oct-2025 18:54 | Justanormalperson | Updated [Accident report, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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