A Kenya Airways Boeing 787-8 destined for landing at London's Heathrow Airport was instead forced to land at Stansted Airport amid a "potential security threat" onboard.

Sudden Interruption

Kenya Airways' Flight KQ100 is a daily service between the carrier's hub of Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR). The service is operated by the Boeing 787-8.

On October 12th, KQ100 was en route to Heathrow when both local British authorities and Kenya Airways Headquarters received an alert that the flight had a potential security threat onboard.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) scrambled Typhoon fighters to intercept the flight. As stated by the UK Ministry of Defense, the fighters were launched as a precaution to intercept "a civilian aircraft which was approaching the U.K."

Reports suggest that the French Air Force was also aware of the potential threat onboard the Kenya Airways flight. As such, it has been understood that the RAF took over the interception from the French fighter jets once KQ100 entered British airspace.

Stansted Diversion

Playback data from Flightradar24 showing the flight's path does not show any abnormalities that could hint the flight was under suspicion. Even the approach to Stansted looks normal based on the data.
 

KQ100 landed at Stansted Airport (STN) around 3:45 p.m. local time. The 787 was parked at a remote stand away from the terminal for maximum safety.

Upon the aircraft's arrival in Stansted, it was surrounded by emergency response vehicles including Essex Police who had been called to the airport.

During this entire predicament, the flight crew had all been briefed regarding the potential threat. As such, all safety and security procedures had been taken to ensure everyone's safety.

Armed officers boarded the flight and Essex Police later reported that there was nothing of concern onboard.

Stansted Airport had been receiving delays throughout the day for both arriving and departing flights. However, this can mainly be attributed to the weather. The KQ100 diversion did not cause the airport to shut down.

While some incoming and outgoing flights were delayed at the time of KQ100's diversion, no details have been released confirming that the diversion was the cause of these delays.

Stansted Airport continues to serve flights as normal. 

Stansted's Popularity 

London Stansted Airport is located around 40 miles from the actual city of London. Because of its remote location, Stansted tends to be the main choice when it comes to such emergency situations.
 

Historically, there have been quite a few situations of aircraft landing in Stansted amid potential security threats reported onboard.

In 2004, an Olympic Airways A340-300 flying from Athens to New York JFK was intercepted by RAF Tornadoes and forced to land in Stansted following a bomb threat onboard. The flight landed safely and all 301 passengers onboard were unharmed.

In 2013, a Pakistan International Airlines flight from Lahore to Manchester was intercepted by RAF Typhoons and diverted to Stansted after a bomb threat was made onboard. There were 297 passengers onboard the 777-300ER and two British nationals were later arrested.

In 2019, an Air India flight from Mumbai to Newark diverted to Stansted also amid a bomb threat onboard. This threat was later found to be a hoax and the 777-300ER continued to Newark.

Most recently, in 2020, a Ryanair flight from Kraków to Dublin had to be escorted by RAF Typhoons after a passenger left a note in one of the lavatories warning that explosives were onboard. The flight landed safely and no one was harmed, with the threatening note's claim being proved false.

Epilogue

The aircraft operating Kenya Airways KQ100 was an eight-year-old Boeing 787-8 registered 5Y-KZG. 

After diverting into Stansted around 3:45 p.m., the aircraft finally departed with all passengers and crew just after 8:00 p.m. The 787 flew 22 minutes across to Heathrow Airport, landing four hours and 20 minutes late at 8:35 p.m.

5Y-KZG later operated the return service to Nairobi, KQ101. However, the inbound flight's diversion caused a knock-on delay. KQ101 departed Heathrow at 11:00 p.m. just under five hours late.

Thankfully, 5Y-KZG isn't scheduled to operate any more flights for another day or so. This will eliminate the risk of further knock-on delays for the other Kenya Airways flights the aircraft will operate.