There was panic at Entebbe International Airport when a RwandAir aircraft CRJ9 flight number 464 veered off the main runway at on landing on Wednesday.
According to Uganda Civil Aviation Authority-UCAA, the incident happened at 5:31am due to bad weather.
UCAA said in a statement that efforts were underway to remove the aircraft from the runway strip so that the main runway can return to full use.
In its press statement dated April 20, RwandAir says the its aircraft flight WB464 upon landing at Entebbe Airport was involved in a runway incursion as a result of bad weather.
Adding that "all passengers and flight crew deplaned safely with no reported injuries."
The flight had 44 passengers and 7 crew members who disembarked safely from the plane on the main runway 17/35 on Wednesday morning.
The incident comes three years after an Ethiopian Airlines Aircraft, carrying 139 passengers, skidded off the main runway at Entebbe airport at 12:41 am on January 3, 2019.
The plane, a Boeing 737-800, overshot the runway. All the passengers and flight crew disembarked safely but the incoming flights were affected by the incident.
According to Vianney Luggya the UCAA spokesperson, small and light aircrafts were on Wednesday diverted to land on the alternate runway, 17/30 as the authorities tried to remove the RwandaAir aircraft from the main runway.
Incoming flights for big carriers were being diverted to Nairobi, Kenya and Juba, South Sudan for now. Flights for Flydubai, Qatar Airways and Saudia were diverted to Nairobi, while Saudia flight number SV491 scheduled to land at 6:15am was the first to be diverted this morning, followed by Qatar Airways flight number QR1385 scheduled to land at 7:20am.
Flydubai flight FZ619, scheduled to land at 10:30am was aalso diverted to Juba, South Sudan. Uganda Airlines flight UR711 from Nairobi that was scheduled to land in Entebbe at 9:15am was also delayed.
Other flights from Mombasa, Masai Mara, Kigali remained on schedule for landing between 11am to 2pm today.
