Plane crash in Kenya kills at least 6 after charity’s medical jet smashes into neighbourhood and erupts in fireball
SIX people have died after a medical light aircraft crashed into a residential area in Kenya.
Debris was seen strewn over the scene of the horrifying tragedy as mourners flocked to the scene.
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Buildings were completely destroyed in the vicinity of the impact.
The plane took of from Nairobi’s Wilson airport on Thursday afternoon.
Local police commander Anthony Keter told The Standard newspaper the horror incident happened near Morendat Farm on the northeastern side of Lake Naivasha.
Kenya Red Cross teams have been deployed to the site.
“We are now looking for bodies in the wreckage.
“So far we have recovered four bodies,” a Red Cross worker at the scene said.
The plane reportedly crashed into a building before bursting into flames, according to reports.
“We have lost four people, including the pilot… it was all fatal,” said Kiambu County commissioner Henry Wafula.
“The house that it landed on… two people again also died,” he said, and two people on the ground were “seriously injured”.
Pictures from the scene showed rescuers rushing to the scene of the tragedy.
“The plane started burning while in the air,” resident Tasha Wanjira said.
Another resident, Irene Wangui, said the “plane passed by our building shaking it”.
Amref Flying Doctors CEO Stephen Gitau said one of their plaes had been “involved in a fatal accident today”.
They did not provide any further details.
The organisation has said it is “cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation.”
Nairobi based Amref was founded in 1957 as the Flying Doctors of East Africa.
The cause of the crash remains unknown.
It is the latest heartbreaking aviation tragedy in recent months.
Air India’s ill-fated flight out of Ahmedabad crashed shortly after takeoff in June.
The tragic incident claimed at least 260 lives.
Key findings of Air India preliminary crash report
- Dual engine shutdown – fuel cutoff switches moved from ‘RUN’ to ‘CUTOFF’
- Confusion between pilots – cockpit audio confirms one pilot asked ‘why did you cut off’, the other replied ‘I didn’t’
- RAT deployed – as seen in CCTV footage before the crash, the ram air turbine (RAT) which acts as a backup power source in case of emergencies had deployed
- Engine relight attempted – fuel switches were found returned to ‘RUN’ at crash site
- 32 seconds – the time the aircraft was airborne before it crashed
- Thrust levers mismatch – Thrust levers found at idle but black box data shows takeoff thrust was still engaged
- Fuel test pass – fuel was clean without any contamination
- Normal take-off set-up – Flaps and landing gear correctly configured
- No bird activity – clear skies, good visibility, light winds
- Pilot credentials clear – both medically fit and rested
- No sabotage detected – although FAA alerted over a known fuel switch vulnerability not checked by Air India
- Aircraft loading – the flight was within weight and balance limits
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