Cape Town - Kenyans are celebrating the country’s pilots for navigating and safely landing their planes during Europe's devastating storm Eunice last week which wreaked havoc across most of the region.
One of the pilots, Ruth Karauri, landed at London's Heathrow airport while Clive Nyachieo landed at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, according to BBC News Africa.
Flying a KQ Boeing 787 on Friday, Karauri managed to steer the plane onto the runway at 4.01pm as Storm Eunice raged at speeds over 70 Knots.
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According to the Times.uk, Karauri’s feat was shown on Big Jet TV, the YouTube plane-spotting channel, which drew nearly seven million viewers for the nail-biting touchdowns as Eunice raged, and the excitable commentary of the presenter Jerry Dyer.
Karauri wanted to be a pilot while growing up, not just because of her passion, but because she admired the signature uniforms worn by men and women serving in the profession, according to the website viraltea.co.uk.
When the national airline began advertising on one of the local TV stations, her attention switched to the desire of working hard to realise her dream of becoming a pilot, writes the website.
Earlier this month, the East African airline announced that it expects a 20% rise in revenue this year, as it battles to end losses in its passenger business and recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, local media reported on Tuesday that the airline is planning to downsize its fleet to 30 aircraft, a move that may see more staff lay-offs as the flag carrier looks to cut costs, reports Kenya’s The Star newspaper.
Social media users have hailed the pilot's achievement, saying: “Landing a plane is not as easy a job as many may think. Landing one in a storm, needs skills, courage and experience”.
Another Twitter user said: “It was a whole day stormy weather conditions at Heathrow and there were many abandoned landings and others going for third attempt to land.”
IOL