A light aircraft crash-landed in Malindi International airport after losing its tire on Monday.
The aircraft was being used by a trainee pilot when the incident happened.
However, before crash landing the aircraft, the trainee pilot was asked to fly the aircraft for two hours above the Malindi skies to exhaust the whole fuel in the aircraft.
Speaking to Standard Digital on Tuesday, Malindi airport manager Mohammed Karama said that the trainee pilot was asked to keep the aircraft in the air for all this time to avoid an explosion when crash landing.
"The control tower noticed that its fore wheel was missing while mid-air and the male student pilot was advised to fly for two hours due to security reasons," Karama said as quoted by Standard Digital.
The aircraft, Cessna 152 lost its tire while in mid-air. Fortunately, the pilot did not suffer any injuries. However, he was rushed to hospital where he was treated of trauma after the two hours ordeal.
On landing, the aircraft destroyed a section of itself and the runway. The cause of the tire falling off has not yet been identified.
"The cause of the accident will be established by aviation investigators, luckily the incident happened when the airspace was not busy and it, therefore, did not disrupt the normal operation," noted the Malindi airport manager.