Impact forces, fire identified as likely cause of AMREF air crash
Impact forces and ensuing fire have been identified as the preliminary cause of the AMREF Air ambulance, which killed six people last month in Mwihoko.
This has been revealed by the preliminary report shared by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Department (AAID).
“The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and ensuing fire, and part of the building was destroyed. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Department (AAID) deployed investigators immediately to the crash site to conduct initial onsite investigation and witness interviews,” Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir has announced in a briefing.
The CS has explained that representatives from the United States’ National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) have been involved in the investigation which is still ongoing.
“The AAID, therefore, notified: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States of America as the aircraft accident investigation authority of the State of Design and Manufacture of the aircraft, who assigned an Accredited Representative (ACCREP) under ICAO Annex 13 to support the AAID investigation; The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) as the aircraft accident investigation authority of the State of Manufacture of the engines, who assigned an ACCREP under ICAO Annex 13 to support the AAID investigation; and ICAO,” he stated.
Chirchir further noted that the engine manufacturer, AMREF, and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) were also involved in the probe, and that investigators had secured both the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR).
“The engine manufacturer (Pratt and Whitney Canada) assigned a Technical Advisor, AMREF Flying Doctors, and Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) assigned observers respectively under ICAO Annex 13 to support the AAID investigation.
He added that the FDR and CVR have been dispatched to the United States of America’s National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recorders laboratory for examination, readout, and analysis to finalize the investigation.
Chirchir said the recorders will be analyzed in a joint exercise later this month and early October, with representatives from all the concerned parties taking part.
“The joint FDR and CVR readout and analysis exercise will be conducted in the last week of September and the first week of October 2025, with the participation of AAID investigators, Accredited Representatives, and observers. Investigation into identifying the probable cause(s) of the accident is ongoing,” he said.
The Cessna Citation 560XLS had taken off from Wilson Airport at 2:14 PM on a medical evacuation flight to Egal International Airport in Hargeisa, Somaliland, when it crashed three minutes later into a residential building near the A.I.P.C.A. Ngatho church in Mwihoko area.
All four people on board, two pilots, a doctor, and a nurse, and two on the ground lost their lives, while two others on the ground sustained serious injuries.
