Scare as Turkish Airlines flight roams in Kampala skies for an hour to “burn fuel” after engine sucked in birds

There was an early morning scare in Kampala after revellers noticed a plane doing several rounds in the skies for almost an hour.

It would later turn out that the plane, belonging to Turkish Airlines and was burning down its fuel to allow it to land back in Entebbe following an unfortunate incident.

It is reported that the plane, Turkish 606,  tried to take off from Entebbe to Istanbul in Turkey, but 40 minutes later, it was still flying a holding pattern around Entebbe and communicating to the ground handlers to let it land again.

According to airport staff in Entebbe, the plane could not land with its tank still loaded with optimum fuel, hence it was required to do a longer round of at least an hour to allow it to lose weight so it can land without incident.

A statement from Uganda Civil Aviation Authority confirmed the incidences, adding that “unfortunately, the aircraft experienced a bird strike during take-off.”

“As a precautionary measure, the flight hovered in the Ugandan airspace before landing safely at Entebbe at 08:52 am. The aircraft is being checked for airworthiness before resuming the flight.”