Qatar Airways Flight Encounters Severe Turbulence Over Somalia

A routine flight from Doha to Mount Kilimanjaro turned harrowing for passengers aboard Qatar Airways Flight QR1499, as the aircraft encountered severe turbulence over Somalia due to adverse weather conditions.

The incident, which unfolded on Friday, left the aircraft, an Airbus A330-200 leased from Oman Air, with internal damages and passengers shaken.

An Airbus A330-200 (A4O-DA), which is presently leased from Oman Air, was used for the flight. The aircraft is still at Kilimanjaro International Airport, as per FlightAware, however the flight from Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) to Dar es Salaam (DAR) did not continue after the incident.

Images of the inside show damaged ceiling panels and lights, which are usually the consequence of turbulence causing passengers and service objects to fall into the ceiling.

Surprisingly, the Kenyan airports authority says that this never took place. I haven’t seen that reported online, even though they clearly deny the claim that the plane touched down in Nairobi.

According to flight tracking, the aircraft carried on to Dar es Salaam before returning to Doha later that day. It doesn’t seem like anyone was too seriously hurt in this incident, even though the cabin sustained significant damage.

The incident should serve as yet another timely reminder for passengers to always wear their seatbelts when sitting, even if the seat belt signs were activated at the time owing to the predicted adverse conditions in the area.