By Wolfgang H Thome
Published September 30, 2013
Only weeks after a devastating fire at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, the woes for the Kenya Airport Authority (KAA) continue, as their second most important airport, Moi International Airport in Mombasa, descended into utter darkness just before 8.00 PM (17GMT/UTC) local time on September 29, 2013. Standby generators failed to engage and passengers had to use their lighters or mobile phones to light up their immediate surrounding, as operations came to a standstill and flights in and out of Mombasa were not possible during the outage as runway lights too went dark.
RELATED: Political Chaos Starting to Afflict Key Egyptian Tourist Areas
Concerns from stakeholders immediately focused on aviation security, as the entire complex was dark and apparently not a single stand by light was functioning in crucial areas when the lights went out, rendering staff unable to see what was transpiring at the entrance gates or elsewhere in arrival and departure terminals.
The darkness lasted for at least 10 minutes before a few emergency lights came on, with no explanation given by KAA.
It is now wait-and-see how and when KAA finds it fit to respond to queries raised as airlines and the general public want answers to this latest lapse.
an eTurboNews article
