Two planes have collided in mid-air above the Nairobi National Park in Kenya, causing the death of a trainer and a student pilot. A small aircraft belonging to Ninety-Nines Flying School was a Cessna 172 that crashed in the Kenyan park about six miles from Nairobi’s Wilson Airport.
The other aircraft involved in the incident was a Dash 8 passenger plane belonging to Safarilink, which had on board 44 people.
None of the 39 passengers and five crewmembers were left injured following the collision, the airline said in the wake of the incident.
Those aboard the bigger aircraft involved in the incident “experienced a loud bang” minutes into their flight from Nairobi to the seaside area of Diani, Safarilink claimed.
A first statement by Safarilink read: “Safarilink Aviation wishes to report that this morning at 9.45 local time our flight number 053 with 39 passengers and five crew on board headed to Diani experienced a loud bang soon after take-off.
“The crew decided to immediately turn back to Nairobi-Wilson Airport for further inspection and assessment and landed safely. There were no casualties reported.
“The relevant agencies have been notified and together with Safarilink Aviation are investigating the incident.”
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority also confirmed investigations had commenced “through various agencies led by the Air Accident Investigation Department (AAID) and the National Police Service to establish the cause of the accident”.
In a second statement, Safarilink added their plane had suffered “some damage to its tail” as it “was climbing out of Wilson Airport after receiving Air Traffic Control clearance”.
Those aboard the passenger plane who had been affected by the incident were “boarded onto another Safarilink aircraft that departed Wilson Airport at 11.20am (local time, 8.20am GMT) and landed safely in Diani thereafter”, the statement also said.
The statement included “heartfelt condolences” to the crew and family of the smaller aircraft that crashed down in the park.
While Safarilink said in its first statement the incident had happened at 6.45am GMT (9.45am local time), the Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority said “an aircraft accident occurred at 10.05am” local time (7.05am GMT).
