Economy

Wilson plane crash kills pilot and trainee

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The plane that crashed at Nairobi National Park on October 9,2013. Photo/WILLIAM OERI

A light aircraft crashed shortly after take-off from Wilson Airport Wednesday, killing two people on board.

The crash, which happened inside the Nairobi National Park at 9am, comes just as the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) rated Kenya’s implementation of air investigation as weak and below the global average.

Police said the aircraft crashed three minutes after take-off due to mechanical problems. An instructor and trainee died in the crash.

This is the third fatal air crash in the country this year. In July, a pilot and his two passengers were killed when their light aircraft crashed at the Aberdare Mountains.
Earlier in the year two people died following a plane crash in Mount Kenya forest.

The recent report by ICAO, which was released following a safety audit in May 2013, showed that the country has been slow in accident investigations.

Investigating accidents is seen as key in helping the country reduce the number of crashes and fatalities.

Kenya’s airworthiness was above the global average of seven. In legislation, organisations and licensing, the country was at the global average.

ICAO expects each member state to address eight critical elements – legislation, organization, licensing, operations, airworthiness, accident investigation, air navigation service and aerodromes - in an effort to establish and implement an effective safety oversight system in the industry. Kenya is one of the countries that have implemented the audits.

Statistics by ICAO show that though Africa only accounted for 5 per cent of the total accidents last year, it had the highest rate of fatalities compared to other regions.

Kenya recorded only one accident, in August last year, with four fatalities and whose cause remained unknown. ICAO has been driving improved safety measures on the continent in a bid to reduce the number of air accidents in the region.