'Fake' plane crash causes panic
2006-04-06 10:36
Nairobi - Kenyan air authorities briefly
sparked panic on Thursday by announcing a plane coming from the
Democratic Republic of Congo had crashed with 80 people on board
- then saying it was a practice drill.
"It's a drill," Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) spokesperson
Dominic Kabiru told Reuters.
Asked why KAA would briefly pretend, even to foreign media,
that there was a real crash, Kabiru added: "We are testing our
preparedness. We have to play a real scenario."
Earlier, various KAA staff had assured reporters the plane
had just crashed and was burning close to the airport. On
repeated questioning, they gave flight and engine numbers.
"There's a full emergency. An aircraft has crashed ...
Engine No 4 is on fire, there's smoke everywhere," an official
at KAA headquarters at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta airport told
Reuters minutes before Kabiru's comment.
Emergency services rushed to the scene, witnesses said.