Turkish 612 diverted back to Entebbe over technical issues

January 26, 2025 in Companies, Travel & Tourism by Editor

Turkish Airlines regular flight TK612 from Entebbe to Istanbul was diverted back to Entebbe earlier today, over unspecified technical problems. According to a post on the social media platform X by the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, the flight operated by an A330-300 with 269 passengers and crew on board, had departed Entebbe International Airport at 0714 local time on Sunday, January 26, 2025. But it “was unable to proceed to its final destination due to safety precautions.”

The aircraft was then kept in a holding pattern to the west of the Ugandan capital Kampala, for 3 hours and thirty-six minutes, as it burnt off excess fuel to achieve safety minima before making an uneventful landing at Entebbe at 1050 local time.

Data from flight tracking site FlightAware shows that the aircraft maintained an altitude of 8000 ft at an average speed of 300 miles per hour, using the drag imposed by the thicker air at lower altitude to achieve a higher fuel burn.

The flight which operates as a tagged service from Kigali had earlier arrived at Entebbe three minutes ahead of schedule at 0502 local but departed 39 minutes late at 0714. No further information about the status of TK612 was available at the time of filing this report.