Kiambu Police Boss Recounts AMFREF Plane Landing on Mwihoko House
- Two people were seated in their house in a residential estate in Mwihoko, oblivious of the forthcoming tragedy
- An AMREF Flying Doctors plane crashed into their house, killing them on the spot, and injuring four other people who were near the scene
- All the occupants of the Somaliland-bound plane, two pilots, a medical doctor and a nurse, perished on the spot
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Kiambu County Commissioner Henry Wafula says the ill-fated AMREF plane tumbled into a house in Mwihoko on Thursday, August 7.
Source: Twitter
Two people who were in the house were killed on the spot.
How plane crash cut short lives of Mwihoko residents
Wafula explained that the fatalities in the house were an elderly woman and another younger one suspected to be a househelp.
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It fell and sank with the roof crashing on them alongside the occupants of the plane.
Their bodies could not be retrieved yet, as the impact scattered them across the scene; a DNA test would be needed to identify them after the collection of the bodies.
"It landed fatally on the house. You can see serious injuries. We have already evacuated the seriously injured hospital to be attended to. Two people who were in the house died. We have an old lady and another one, I think a househelp or a relative. We have not yet established, but those two," he said.
At the same time, Wafula clarified that the aircraft did not belong to the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), as some earlier reports had suggested.
What AMREF CEO said
Meanwhile, AMREF CEO Stephen Gitau revealed that the plane, a Cessna Citation XLS (5Y-FDM), had never had mechanical hitches that would warrant such a crash.
He noted that it had always operated reliably during medical missions, making the incident both unexpected and perplexing.
Gitau, who spoke on Thursday night, hours after the crash, emphasised that AMREF’s fleet undergoes rigorous inspections and that its crew members are trained to meet all legal and professional standards for medical rescue missions.
Therefore, the crash, which occurred just three minutes after takeoff, had not been foreseen.
"At this point, we are really saddened by this tragic accident, and we have no idea what really happened to this aircraft. It is a jet, a very high-performing jet, and for it to lose contact with the control tower in three minutes is very baffling, because they were 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. So we really don't know what happened. In terms of safety maintenance, AMREF Flying Doctors has the highest standards required by law," Gitau said.
Source: UGC
Recovery operations were underway at the crash site to collect parts of the aircraft that could shed light on the cause.
Gitau mentioned that locating the black box, containing cockpit audio and flight data, would be key to understanding what transpired.
Where was AMREF plane flying to?
As earlier reported by TUKO.co.ke, the aircraft was en route to Hargeisa, Somaliland, for a medical evacuation involving an infant who required urgent care in Nairobi.
Following the crash, alternative arrangements were made to ensure the child is brought to Nairobi.
Killed on board were four AMREF team members; two pilots, a medical doctor, and a nurse.
AMREF confirmed that four people were injured and treated right at the scene.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
