Somali Airlines Flight HH611 Accident at Nairobi JKIA (605-BT)

Incident Overview and Immediate Aftermath On 17 May 1989, Somali Airlines Flight HH611, a Boeing 707-330B operated by Somali Airlines, was cleared for take-off from Runway 06 at Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for an Instrument Flight Rule (IFR) flight to Mogadishu International Airport. The take-off roll commenced at 1050 UTC. After reaching rotation speed, the aircraft became momentarily airborne to a height of approximately 3 metres before sinking back onto the runway. A second rotation attempt was unsuccessful, and the take-off was aborted. The aircraft overran the end of the runway, travelling nearly 180 metres on a heading of 120° magnetic across wet, muddy, grass-covered soil in a water-logged area before its undercarriage became deeply embedded in mud. At the time of the incident, heavy rain had reduced visibility at the airport to 2,000 metres, and a line of cumulonimbus clouds was over the airfield. The Control Tower did not see the aircraft due to the heavy downpour. Following a brief radio contact, Aerodrome Fire Fighting vehicles were dispatched to the end of Runway 06 and confirmed the aircraft had crashed at the runway's end. The runway was temporarily closed for inspection before being reopened to subsequent flights. Passengers and crew were evacuated using the port front escape chute, which was the only chute that deployed, and were transported to the airport terminal by airport conveyance vehicles. No fatalities or injuries were reported among the 57 passengers or the 13 crew members.