Transport Principal Secretary Paul Maringa says there are no survivors following the crash of the FlySax aircraft in Aberdares. On board the plane were eight passengers and two pilots. He stated that investigations are being conducted to establish the cause of the crash.
“A mountain rescue team of the Kenya Wildlife Service has reached the wreckage of the aircraft. Unfortunately, from the reports we are getting there are no survivors. The families of the passengers and the crew have been notified and as a ministry, we truly regret this very sad outcome and send out our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families,” he stated.
The ground search team is currently at the crash site of the FlySax aircraft in Aberdares.
Maringa stated that the wreckage was sighted Thursday morning by pilots in helicopters involved in the search at Njambini area and recovery efforts have commenced.According to the National Disaster Management Unit Deputy Director Pius Masai, ground rescue teams were dispatched at dawn in search for the missing aircraft.
The plane was flying to Nairobi from Kitale and had been diverted to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from its initial destination of Wilson Airport. Earlier The wreckage of the missing plane which had 10 people on board has been sighted on the South Western part of the Aberdares two days after it went off the radar.
Transport Principal Secretary Paul Maringa stated that the wreckage was sighted Thursday morning by pilots on choppers involved in the search at Njabini area and recovery efforts have commenced.
“I am waiting for specific details of the location but at the moment what I can confirm is that it was spotted South West of the Aberdares region. We continue with the ground search of the survivors and we trust that in the next one hour, we should have very comprehensive information,” he stated.
According to the National Disaster Management Unit (NDMU)Deputy Director Pius Masai, ground rescue teams were dispatched at dawn in search for the missing aircraft.
The recovery operation is however, hampered by bad weather which is also blamed for the crash that occured late Tuesday.
It was flying to Nairobi from Kitale and had been diverted to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from its initial destination of Wilson Airport.
The plane from Kitale that had 8 passengers and two crew, members went off the radar at 5:20pm, on Tuesday the exact time it was expected to land at the Wilson Airport in Nairobi
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| The plane before take off at Kitale |
The plane from Kitale that had 8 passengers and two crew, members went off the radar at 5:20pm, on Tuesday the exact time it was expected to land at the Wilson Airport in Nairobi.Rescue teams on Wednesday were looking for a small plane with 10 people on board that went missing north of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, the aircraft owners and the national disaster agency said. The plane, operated by East African Safari Air Express, took off from the western town of Kitale in the late afternoon Tuesday. It disappeared off the radar screens at Nairobi international airport, its final destination, around 80 minutes later, the owners, Sax, said in a statement. Searchers on the ground were being helped by a police helicopter, focussing on an area about 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Nairobi, on the western fringe of the Aberdare mountains.
