Why Over 20,000 Britons Tracked a Kenya Airways Flight from Nairobi to London on Wednesday

Kenya Airways flight KQ 100 from Nairobi to London was the most searched aircraft in the world on Wednesday on Flightradar24, Swedish internet-based service that tracks air traffic in real time from across the world.

The flight was searched by more than 20,000 people after reports emerged that Priti Patel, a British Cabinet Minister who resigned on Wednesday amid a controversy, boarded the aircraft from Nairobi en route to London after her trip to Africa was cut short.

Ms. Patel was called back to London by Prime Minister Theresa May to shed more light on her alleged secret talks with Israeli politicians, including the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which she revealed the possibility of UK channeling aid to the Israeli army.

Ms. Patel, who was the International Development Secretary, resigned after arriving in London after it became evident that she misled Theresa May over the secret meetings she had with Israeli politicians while on a holiday in Israel in September.

Ms Patel had earlier been censured by May for breaking protocol, but apologized and the saga seemed to settle.

After Patel’s resignation PM May in a letter thanked her for her serivice but rebuked her for the undisclosed meetings. “As you know, the UK and Israel are close allies, and it is right that we should work closely together,” May said in the letter. “But it must be done formally, and through official channels,” May added.

On Wednesday, BBC News shared an aerial footage of the KQ 100 aircraft that had just landed at Heathrow airport in London, with three black limos waiting nearby, supposedly to pick up Priti Patel.