Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCCA) has launched a probe into the cause of a mid-morning collision involving a Cessna aircraft belonging to Ninety-Nines Flying School and a Dash 8 belonging to Safarilink Aviation Limited.
In a statement Tuesday, the Authority confirmed that the accident happened at 10.05 local time while SafariLink reported 9.45 am.
Various agencies are investigating the crash.
“ Investigations have commenced through various agencies led by the Air Accident Investigation Department (MID) and the National Police Service to establish the cause of the accident,” said KCAA Director General.
According to SafariLink Aviation Limited, flight number 053 with 39 passengers and 5 crew on board headed to Diani experienced a loud bang soon after take-off, forcing the crew to return to Wilson Airport for further inspection and assessment.
Both KCCA and Safarilink said there were no fatalities despite reports on social media platforms that two people had died.
The airline said” Safarilink Aviation wishes to report that this morning at 9:45 Local Time our flight number 053 with 39 passengers and 5 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 this incident. We will provide an update once we have more information” it added.
