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Gun shooting incident rocks Wilson Airport

wilson-airport1

A section of Wilson Airport. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Police are investigating a gun shooting incident allegedly pitting Renegade Air CEO Issak Somo and Skyward Express boss Abdi Mohamed over a disagreement in the management of an aircraft they co-own.

Wilson Airport station OCS Wilson Maina said a file prepared by his office has been sent to the Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) who is expected to forward it to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to press for appropriate charges.

“Mr Somo is a licensed gun holder, he has access to the airside at Wilson Airport but his problem is that he is not allowed to enter the airside with a gun and shoot in the air,” Mr Maina told the Business Daily.

The dispute is understood to have started after the two airlines that operate in the domestic market leased out one of the aircraft they reportedly co-own. The plane returned to Wilson Airport a day earlier than expected without the knowledge of Mr Somo, said Mr Maina.

On returning to the airport, engineers from Skyward Express attended to it first without the knowledge of Mr Somo and this did not go down well with the Renegade Air boss.

It is at this point that he (Mr Somo) pulled his gun and shot in the air at Wilson's airside to scare away Mr Mohamed in an incident that was reported at Wilson Airport under OB. Number 27/30/2022.

“He is not allowed to shoot in the air at Wilson Airport, especially at the airside,” said Mr Maina.

Renegade Air launched flights on the Kisumu route last year after it started passenger flights to Wajir from its hub in Nairobi. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) awarded Renegade Air a three-year service licence in 2015 to operate 10 routes.

Skyward Express has flights to Eldoret, Lamu, Lodwar, Mombasa, and Malindi. It also launched daily flights from Wilson Airport to Lamu via Malindi last year.

KCAA director-general Emile Nguza Arao, Mr Ahmed and Mr Abdi did not respond to our queries over the matter by press time.

The route, the airline said will be served by a fleet of Dash 8 Q100 (37-Seater) and Dash 8 Q 300 (50-Seater).

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