Since Monday, Air Senegal passengers flying from New York to Dakar have been stranded in the United States due to a breakdown on the JFK runway. According to the company, this is an “operational disruption”, which will be resolved in “a few hours”. This incident comes just a few days after the Diass incident on the Dakar-Bamako flight.

New York’s John Fitzgerald Kennedy Airport was the scene of a major scare for passengers on Air Sénégal flight HC 408, registration 9HSOL, bound for Dakar. After boarding, the passengers were forced to disembark following a technical incident.

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The aircraft, which was already on its way to the runway, had to turn back, and since Monday, they have been stranded in the American metropolis, awaiting their next flight to the Senegalese capital. According to sources who contacted Le Quotidien, there was a moment of misunderstanding about what really happened on the runway at New York airport on Monday. They complained about the lack of focal points at the airline, which often manages these delays in relative opacity.

“An operational disruption”, assures Air Senegal

For the national carrier, this technical incident is likely to be a further blow to its image, due to flight delays and cancellations. From Paris to Cap-Skirring, via Milan and Barcelona or Libreville, its customers often complain about these inconveniences. This incident comes on the heels of the Diass accident involving a Boeing 737-300 leased from the private Senegalese airline Transair, which resulted in a number of serious injuries.

Asked about the incident at Kennedy airport and the situation of passengers, a member of the national airline was reassuring: “There was indeed an operational disruption on the flight from JFK, which will be resolved within a few hours. All passengers will be transferred to Dakar. They have been cared for and accommodated since yesterday (the day of the flight, Monday).” This flight was bound for Bamako. Flight HC 408 on Monday was also a leased aircraft. This shows that the national carrier, which regularly boasts a large number of new aircraft, mainly acquired from Airbus, is having great difficulty managing its fleet, and must regularly resort to expensive leasing of aircraft, not always of good quality.

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Asked about the incident at Kennedy airport and the situation of passengers, a member of the national airline reassured: “there was indeed an operational disruption on the flight from JFK, which will be resolved within a few hours. All passengers will be transferred to Dakar. They have been cared for and accommodated since yesterday (the day of the flight, Monday).”

By Bocar SAKHO / bsakho@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ney T. SOSSEH