AMREF aircraft was en route to Somalia to evacuate seriously ill child - CEO

AMREF Flying Doctors has confirmed that medical personnel on the ill-fated aircraft were going to pick up a patient for medical evacuation from Hargeisa, Somalia.

Speaking at a press briefing at the Weston Hotel on Thursday night, AMREF Flying Doctors' CEO and Accountability Manager Stephen Gitau, said the patient was a critically ill child who needed to be airlifted to Nairobi for further medication.

Gitau said he was shocked at the aircraft's loss of contact with the Air Traffic Control three minutes after taking off.

The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) confirmed this earlier in a statement. In it, KCAA said that the Cessna Citation XLS, registration 5Y-FDM, lost radio and radar contact with Air Traffic Control at 2:17 pm, approximately three minutes after take-off.

Upon losing contact, the tower immediately alerted the organisation, but efforts to reach the crew via satellite phone were unsuccessful.

It was then reported that an aircraft that could not be immediately identified had crashed into a residential area in Mwihoko, Githurai 45.

On board were four crew members, a captain, a first officer, a doctor, and a nurse, all of whom succumbed in the resulting crash. Also killed were two locals who were caught in the crash.

"Up to this moment, we don't know what happened to this aircraft. It's a jet. It's a very high-performing aircraft, and for it to lose contact with the control tower in three minutes is very baffling because it was 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," Mr  Gitau said.

AMREF is hopeful that crucial evidence will be collected at the site to help fill the puzzle that has befell the organisation.

"We are hoping that at the site we can recover the black box, flight recorder, and everything so that we can know what conversations the captain and the tower had before they lost contact," he added.

The aircraft crashed into a house within an estate in Mwihoko area of Githurai 45, killing its crew and medical personnel, comprising four and two persons who were at the house it crashed into.

The impact of the aircraft's fall triggered a fire that burned the aircraft, leaving behind parts that fire engines could salvage from the Kenya Defence Forces and the Kiambu County Government.

Others suffered injuries and have since been treated and discharged.

KCAA DG Emile Arao announced that a full investigation through the Air Accident Investigation Department (AAID) will be conducted to establish the cause of the accident.

AMREF said it will provide more details of the crash as it gets them.

"AMREF Flying Doctors is working closely with the relevant aviation authorities, security agencies, and emergency response teams to investigate the cause of the accident. Investigators are currently at the scene, and we will await their official findings before providing further comment," the official added.

To the affected community affected by the crash and deceased persons, the organisation expressed sympathies and condolences and pledged support to the affected persons.