Flight delayed as plane gets stuck in pothole (Photos)

Fly540 airplane stuck in a pothole at Manda Airport in Lamu. [Photo, courtesy]

There was anxiety at the Manda Airport in Lamu as a Fly540 airplane was forced to abort take-off when one of its tyres got stuck in a pothole on the runway.

The plane which was to take-off at 12:30pm was delayed for about 30 minutes during the Sunday incident.  It had 36 passengers on board.

Passengers board the plane for a second time at Manda Airport, Lamu. [Photo, Courtesy]

Engineers supervised airport workers who dug out the plane's left rear tyre out of the pothole.

"The plane was about to take-off but it was a bit difficult. The pilot had to stop after realising that one of the plane's tyres was stuck in a huge pothole on the runway. Engineers and airport staff had to be called and assisted in pushing the plane out and parked it at a safer location on the runway from where it was finally able to take-off safely," said a Fly540 official.

Passengers have called on the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to repair the Manda Airport runway.

Employees at Wilson Airport, Nairobi, dig out wheels of a plane trapped in a pothole, May 2018. [Photo, Courtesy]

This is however not the first time a plane has gotten stuck in a pothole on the runway. In May last year, a video shared by a worker at one of the airlines at Wilson Airport showed staff trying to free the wheel of a plane trapped in a pothole.

"It's a sad situation. Planes get stuck often, and it is the workers who are usually responsible of pulling them out of the potholes," said one of the workers. 

Potholes at Wilson Airport in May 2018. [Photo, Courtesy]

In the same month, Kenyans also took to Twitter to express their dismay at the poor state of roads at the Wilson Airport with pictures showing huge potholes filled with water following heavy rains. ?