SOCIAL MEDIA RUMOUR MONGERS TURN MINOR TECHNICAL PROBLEMS INTO A FULL BLOWN EMERGENCY
(Posted 19th November 2015)
A regular aviation source in Nairobi suggested yesterday that rumour mongers on Facebook and Twitter should be prosecuted by the authorities when spreading false information, even by simply retweeting or copying / pasting without having ascertained the facts and nature of incidents they make reference to. The anger was triggered by known regular critics of Kenya Airways, who turned two minor technical glitches, discovered after takeoff of two flights yesterday, into major emergencies, none of which proved to be true when all the facts were available.
‘There is a small but very vocal group of activists if not militants on the social media who think it is their calling to rip and tear into the national airline. But making out some really minor issues into a full blown emergency is simply not right. They are causing a lot of anxiety and worries for people who then call, almost expecting their next of kin to be dead already. If it were me I would prosecute such characters to the fullest extent of the law to teach them a lesson to hold their horses until they know the facts. If they however prefer to spread rumours, let them follow such irresponsible individuals like Alai into the cells and face court’ did the source rant, understandably wishing to remain anonymous, while literally blowing a gasket when communicating yesterday through various channels.
It is clear that those individuals were riding on the aftermath of the downing of a Russian civilian airliner over Egypt and the diversion of two Air France flights after threats were made against those flights, and sought cheap publicity and added followers by carelessly blowing their misguided whistles.
Kenya Airways in the meantime issued a statement clarifying on the facts, showing that there was nothing more to it than two unrelated minor technical glitches which did NOT prompt any MayDay calls or asked for emergency landing procedures on the ground as some of the social media comments insinuated.
Start quote:
Nairobi, 18th Nov 2015
Kenya Airways would like to reassure all guests that the two aircraft that turned back to JKIA yesterday were only precautionary and did not put guests or crew in danger.
Flight 576 to Central Africa Republic on 17/11/15 and Flight KQ 706 destined for Zambia on 18/11/15 returned to JKIA shortly after takeoff when they both developed minor technical problems. The two incidences were purely coincidental.
A decision was made to have the aircraft return to JKIA for maintenance as a safeguard to avoid return delays as the aircraft would have required maintenance action after landing at their destinations where there is reduced technical support compared to Nairobi.
Kenya Airways wishes to thank all our guests for their patience and continued support and assure them that their safety is paramount. The company remains committed to the integrity of its operations as its aims to bring the World to Africa and Africa to the World.
End quote
This correspondent flew on Kenya Airways KQ 418 last evening from Nairobi to Entebbe, in the full knowledge that KQ’s flight operations are safe, as incidentally certified by holding IATA’s Operational Safety Audit status. For real breaking and regular aviation news from the wider Eastern African region, look no further but this space!
