36 cheat death as EBB Air plane overshot Mandera runway
Thirty-six people narrowly escaped death yesterday after an aircraft operated by Elevation Beyond Borders (EBB) Air was involved in a runway excursion at Mandera Airstrip forcing it to skid into a thicket.
The Embraer aircraft, registration 5Y-EBB, had departed from Wilson Airport en route to Mandera when it failed to stop within the runway limits upon landing.
Preliminary findings show that the commercial passenger plane operating on the Nairobi–Mandera route veered off the runway and came to a stop in nearby bushes at Mandera Airstrip after it overshot the runway.
It came to rest in nearby bushes just beyond the airstrip boundary.
All 36 passengers and crew members on board were safely evacuated, with no injuries reported. Authorities have since launched investigations to determine the cause of the incident, focusing on possible operational, technical, and environmental factors.
Preliminary flight data indicates the aircraft had maintained a notably active schedule in the days leading up to the incident.
On April 23, 2026, it operated a short Nairobi–Nairobi cycle, landing at 7:37 pm after a brief five-minute flight.
Earlier, on April 20, 2026, the aircraft completed multiple rotations between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Wilson Airport, including two extended legs lasting over four hours each.
Additional records show consecutive domestic flights on April 19 and April 17, with flight durations averaging between four and four-and-a-half hours.
The schedule suggests frequent back-to-back operations with limited downtime between some rotations.
The incident adds to a growing list of aviation occurrences in Kenya.
On March 5, 2024, a De Havilland Canada Dash 8 operated by Safarilink Aviation collided shortly after takeoff from Wilson Airport with a training Cessna 172M operated by 99 Flying School over Nairobi National Park.
More recently, on March 20, 2026, another aircraft operating on behalf of Safarilink Aviation was involved in a runway excursion while landing at Wilson Airport.
In that incident, Flight 090 from Kisumu, operated by ALS Limited, encountered difficulties after touchdown at approximately 8:55 pm.
Safarilink confirmed that all 34 passengers and five crew members on board were accounted for, with no serious injuries reported. Emergency response teams were immediately activated, and all occupants were safely evacuated, with support services provided.
Safari Link Aviation owned aircrafts have severally been involved in near fatal crashes.
