AMREF air ambulance was enroute Somalia to evacuate a sick child
Gitau expressed hope that crucial evidence will be collected at the site to help fill the puzzle that has befell the organisation
The ill-fated light aircraft air ambulance belonging AMREF Flying Doctors, which crashed at Mwihoko in Githurai 45, Nairobi killing six people on Thursday, was en route to Hargeisa, Somalia, to pick up a patient for a medical evacuation.
Addressing the press, AMREF Flying Doctors Chief Executive Officer and Accountability Manager Stephen Gitau said the air ambulance was going to airlift a critically ill child to Nairobi for medication.
Gitau expressed his shock that the aircraft lost contact with Air Traffic Control just three minutes after takeoff, adding that they are yet to establish what happened, but investigations are on to establish what caused the crash.
“Up to this moment, we don’t know what happened to this aircraft. It’s a jet. It’s a very high-performing aircraft, and for it to lose contact with the control tower in three minutes is very baffling because it was still climbing. AMREF Flying Doctors maintains the highest levels of safety-maintenance, crew training, and everything. The highest levels that there are, that is what we do,” Gitau said.
The CEO expressed hope that crucial evidence will be collected at the site to help fill the puzzle that has befell the organisation.
“We are hoping that at the site we can recover the black box, flight recorder, and everything so that we can know what conversations the captain and the tower had before they lost contact,” Gitau stated.
The Cessna Citation XLS, registration 5Y-FDM, lost radio and radar contact with Air Traffic Control at 2:17 pm, approximately three minutes after take-off.
Upon losing contact, the tower immediately alerted the organization, but efforts to reach the crew via satellite phone were unsuccessful.
It was then reported that an aircraft that could not be immediately identified had crashed into a residential area in Mwihoko.
Four crew members on board of the aircraft, including a captain, a first officer, a doctor, and a nurse, all succumbed in the crash.
Two locals were also caught in the crash and died on the spot.
The impact of the aircraft’s fall triggered a fire that it, leaving behind parts that fire engines could salvage from the Kenya Defence Forces and the Kiambu County Government.
Others suffered injuries and have since been treated and discharged.
Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) Director General Emile Arao announced that a full investigation through the Air Accident Investigation Department (AAID) will be conducted to establish the cause of the accident.
AMREF said it will provide more details of the crash as it gets them.
“AMREF Flying Doctors is working closely with the relevant aviation authorities, security agencies, and emergency response teams to investigate the cause of the accident. Investigators are currently at the scene, and we will await their official findings before providing further comment,” Gitau added.
