Kenya safari flight crashes, all 12 occupants feared dead

A small aircraft carrying foreign tourists to the famed Maasai Mara National Reserve crashed minutes after takeoff in Kenya’s coastal Kwale region on Tuesday, October 28, with all 12 people on board feared dead, authorities said.

Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) verified the event and said that the Mombasa Air Safari aircraft crashed in the Tsimba Golini section, a forested and hilly area about 40 kilometers (25 miles) away off the Diani airstrip where it had left off.

The aircraft flight 5Y-CCA, which is a Cessna Caravan, was on its way to Kichwa Tembo, the popular safari airstrip to serve the Maasai Mara. The plane, according to the officials, crashed and caught fire soon after takeoff.

According to a statement issued by KCAA, government agencies were already on the scene to determine the cause of the accident and the effect.

Witnesses described that it was a harrowing incident. 

AP reports that when they arrived on the scene of the accident, they were greeted by a smoldering piece of equipment and unidentifiable human body parts due to a loud bang. The police officers were shown locking up the burnt remains of the plane.

According to the AP, Kwale County Commissioner, Stephen Orinde indicated that the passengers were all foreign tourists, but the nationalities of the passengers have not been officially announced.

Local media including Newsweek, reported a family of eight about to board that plane. Analysis of the number of passengers and crew is still not clear since authorities are trying to establish the victims.

The flight operator, Mombasa Air Safari, announced that it is liaising with the civil aviation authority and any further communication will be provided through the official mediums.

Maasai Mara National Reserve is one of the most popular wildlife reserves in Africa and this is because of the annual great migration of the wildebeest and Zebra. 

The crash is a severe blow to the tourism sector in Kenya which depends greatly on tourists making such scenic flights to the far off safari camps.

A crash investigation is currently underway to establish the cause of the crash.