The bodies of Roads Minister Kipkalya Kones and Assistant Home Affairs Minister Lorna Laboso are wheeled away after they arrived at Nairobi's Wilson airport, Wednesday, June 11, 2008 after being recovered from a crash scene.Yesterday, transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere released a statement that said initial investigations into Tuesday's tragic plane crash in which Roads Minister Kipkalya Kones and Home Affairs Assistant Minister Lorna Laboso died reveal that the aircraft was flying in POOR VISIBILITY at the time of the accident. The minister was in effect implying that the pilot could not ‘see’ where he was flying to.While I do not want to speculate nor claim to be an aviation expert myself, but any frequent flyer knows that many aircraft take off, fly and land in the darkest of the night when visibility is NIL and yet they do NOT crash.
Through the same statement, the minister also informed the public that investigators on the ground had established that the aircraft LOST HEIGHT and hit trees and a roof of a house before crashing. The minister’s went to say preliminary investigations had also indicated that the German pilot flying the aircraft was fairly new in the country and might not have mastered the terrain.
Aircrafts have sophisticated instrumentation and communication gadgetry on board that provides the pilot with necessary navigational information. What the hell, some aircraft fly on auto-pilot, that is with minimum human input! Again, aircraft are not manufactured to fly in low altitudes unless they have technical faults. It seems to me that the ill fated light Cessna 210 aircraft registration 5Y-BVE operated by Skytraders Limited had SERIOUS TECHNICAL PROBLEMS for it to fly low and hit trees.
Interestingly, it has been widely reported that the ‘inexperienced’ pilot radioed the control tower hardly 30 minutes into the flight to report unspecified technical problems then lost contact. If this is correct, then definitely the minister’s statement is not only premature but also widely off the mark.
Even before ascertaining the cause of the communication breakdown; somebody in Wilson Airport made an early decision to send a search and rescue team. The pilot had reported technical problems but had not sent a mayday distress signal. The million dollar question is; what made them so sure the aircraft had already crashed so as to warrant a search and rescue mission?
Mwakwere’s statement is reminiscent of the unresolved Ouko murder saga. The late foreign affairs minister Dr. Ouko was killed and dumped while set alight on Got Alila in the early 90s and the then Police Commissioner – Philip Kilonzo - had put up a spirited attempt to advance a suicide theory into the gruesome murder. How could a man kill himself then set himself ablaze?
Meanwhile the government is already inviting suspicion on itself. The Nation Newspaper quoted eye-witnesses saying that the aeroplane burst into flames after it hit a building. On the other hand, agriculture minister William Ruto speaking after visiting the site nearly 24 hours after the crash was insisting that the aircraft did not burst into flames as reported. Ruto also ruled out possible engine failure and explained that the Kenya Civil Aviation (KCA) team on the ground had indicated in its preliminary report that the engines of the aircraft were still running, but were ripped off by the time of the crash. Live TV footage at the scene reported ‘bodies were burnt beyond recognition’. So, why is Ruto contradicting eye-witness testimony and making an amateurish attempt to change facts on the ground, even before the victims themselves are buried?
I find it strange that the ODM has been quick to accept that Kenya government agents take charge of investigations and yet it is the same government’s responsibility to carry-out airworthiness tests of all aircraft and issue certification. The same government licences the pilot it is now calling ‘inexperienced’ to fly within Kenyan airspace. The same government allowed its senior officials to be airlifted by the inexperienced pilot. Clearly, these facts outrightly disqualifies the government from being in-charge of investigations. It would have been fair to the deceased families, ODM supporters and worried air travellers all over Kenya if ODM would have insisted on an independent, preferably international, full investigation into all aspects surrounding the Kones and Laboso air crash.
In anycase, the families of the victims retain the right of suing the government for damages should investigations implicate government for negligence that contributed to what we now call an accident. Therefore, it is easy for government investigators to manipulate investigations and cover-up its own shortcomings.
Additionally, the ODM must either confirm or deny that there was no plan for some members of its pentagon to board the plane on the same trip that killed Kones and Laboso. Anyone roaming in Nairobi will have already heard the rumour that the entire pentagon was scheduled to travel soon after attending the Vision 2030 launch to campaign in Kilgoris and Ainamoi in a show of unity. The loud silence coming from ODM in this accident is only but fuelling these rumours. Let the party know that although reading messages of condolence and consoling the bereaved families are considerate actions, ODM remains a mass movement that enjoys massive support and the 'accidental' death of any of its leaders (and they are too frequent now) deserves thorough investigations as well as transparency and open flow of information in public interest.
there will be a political repercussion for the missed targets. the people whom God savied from taking the flight are now in the now. so too have the international powers noted. wait for silent but decisive actions and changes. apparently it was one arm of a certain tribal mafia in govt that wanted to pull the deadly stunt. thank god they missed their actual targets. did anybody notice that since then this faction has been quiet. things are on a roll.
ReplyDeletethank God almighty that this partisan and tribal faction in govt missed to do its planend deadly act. for if they had succeeded, kenya would have been n more. things will change rapidly. the other faction, now aware of what civil war can do to all kenyans, is now going to nuetralize and maliza in total the other faction that wanted to finish its coalition partners.
ReplyDeletethe silence from ODM high command is more of a shock at what was planned for them by this tribal faction from mt. kenya.
the silence from the other well meaning mt. kenya faction is a startegy before they unveil and unravel the other faction.
international powers have already sent their messages. they wont tolerate such schemes and manouvres any longer.
enuff said.
Phil,
ReplyDeletePlease take your own medication-TULIZA BOLI. Man it must be frustrating to here same lies from people you trust. But again you must have heard of CATCH 22, ama? You know what is right but bound to go with the wrong. Bottomline the goose if cooked and digested. Akin to finding yourself at the mercy of croco's dental linning.
Phil, good post
ReplyDeleteas always am baffled by the "swift" conclusions from the authorities usually drawn when high profile kenyans lose their lives due to accidents or "crime"
there is a rush to propagate some theory and as quickly shove everything else under the carpet as soon as possible. issues like pilot error or mechanical failure require considerable investigations sometimes lasting years, so as to piece together all credible leads. our dunderhead authorities behave like they have some sort of divine ability to look at a scene and conclusively deduce causes. its all too weird and convoluted. when they should readily admit they dont know, they come out with all sort of explanations ostensibly to contain speculation, but when they should conclusively state with confidence and for for the record (ECK Kivuitu) then they say they do not know.
probably need to start wearing my shirt inside out coz thats how kenyans are being programmed (wrong way round) by our leadership and institutions.
the few rich are the ones stealing from the majority poor. (kirubi, MPs etc)
unelectable MPs get elected, worthy aspirants are humiliated either at primaries or in teh elections. eeiiiish,
reasonable and highly educated (bloggers) with excellent command of intellectual resources have the most vile uneducated language and barely coherent or consistent
grown men and women, still fighting with the mentality of my dad('s) is bigger than yours
come on people
UrXlnc
Bim en Bim
ReplyDeleteBim makes promises and gets votes. The next moment he steals votes and kills to stay in power. He does it with pangas, guns, aeroplanes, carterpillars, Lorries and trailers to initiate accidents.
Ja Sirati, Mbai, Too, Laboso, Were,Kones are the victims.
ODM and peace loving Kenyans must demonstrate and force RAO to appoint only INDEPENDENT investigators. Bim can not be trusted.
Many murders will follow, if we cant find out who killed our people.
-shidatupu-
Phil, I suggest you do the research as follows.
ReplyDeleteTembea hapo Meteorological Dept and ask for the weather conditions of the specified day. They will give you so much, you will be amazed. Then please talk to a pilot who give you a detailed descriptions of a certain class they take called "Instrumentals" then talk to someone else preferably NTSB and they will tell you a lot about causes of many accidents. Maybe try this link www.ntsb.com. After that compare your notes with what the Minister said and then you can make a final and informed decisions. Ukimaliza maybe you write another post based on your findings which most people here will believe. Other than that, we can only speculate or continue chewing curd!
I do not think there is adequate rationale for these alarming insinuations. It just shows how badly we have been attacked by the bacteria of victimhood.
ReplyDeleteanon 12:18, vikii 12:28
ReplyDeleteLike yourselves i do not subscribe to speculation. the biggest problem however is the lack of credibility of most institutions and this is exacerbated by roadside pronouncements. unfortunately coming from a backdrop of numerous real or fictitious whistle-blowing activities, any reasonable query does appear to be yet another speculative effort.
what i would like to see is due process followed and in cases like this we would expect something a little more detailed out, but in the absence of that, those roadside pronouncements are in exactly the same category as even the most absurd of conspiracy theories and all need to be lumped together in the rich and ever growing basket of speculation.
UrXlnc
UrXlnc, you can be sure a detailed report will be out. You don't however come up with such in a matter of hours or a couple days. Tell me which accident happened and either the govt, the police or the aviation department failed to come up with a speculative cause.
ReplyDeleteRuling out bad weather merely because planes have been flying "at night when the visibility is 'nil'" is, well, absurd. You are basically saying bad weather has never trully been a cause of any accident.
Why are peole jumping into conclusions while accusing the minister of doing the exact same thing? As in what informs this suspicion we seem to have about possible assasination? I do not think there is such animosity between either the coalition partners of even between these two leaders and any individual political enemies they may have had. I will ask a question I have asked before; Who in this world would want to kill Lorna and why?
I mean, we all love politics, but attempting to play political football with death is the height of desperation.
I have supported this website since the election fiasco and read it everyday but now u r turning in2 opposers 4 the saker of it which is quite sad. Is Kenya immune 2 accidents?? must we always view everything as 'suspicious'?? This is getting ridiculous guys!
ReplyDeleteVikii,
ReplyDeleteYou are the one who is politicizing this post. Infact you are the one who is increasingly sounding desperate to defend anything PNU!
The gist of this post is questioning the rationale behind government appointing its own agents to investigate this accident involving its well own political adversaries. The investigation will touch on sensitive government operations.
I mean, however much time and effort is put into the probe, its a foregone conclusion Mwakwere's committee will never come up and say; guyz we did not adequately inspect the airworthiness of that aircraft, or the pilot was not qualified to fly the ministers.
There are no insinuations because I am quoting a statement released by Mwakwere himself. He is already pointing to probable causes of the accident yet the investigations have not even began. His colleague in cabinet is contradicting eyewitnesses. Sure, is it justified to call these insinuations?
Whereas I respect Vikii's opinion, I can but help notice his desparation in defending government wrongs. For instance, not so long ago when we reported here that presidential security were out of order in blocking the PM's guards into the VIP area in Nyayo Stadium, Vikii was there to say "It was a simple matter of Raila Odinga's security men being denied access". The Police Commissioner moved fast to correct the situation the very next day which was a Sunday. It later emerged pecking order wars were the reasons for freezing raila's guards and Maj. Gen Ali does not quite share Vikii's myopic way of looking at issues involving the PM's security.
I am unable to answer you as to who would have want to KILL Laboso. But it is not too difficult to see who has the MOTIVE. What I also know is that two ODM MPs (Too and Were) were killed in cold blood and their murders are still unresolved. There were others to go on the same flight as Laboso and Kones. There are people who have made it their business to reduce ODM's majority in parliament.
Vikii,
ReplyDeleteBB here. You are one chap anybody with an ear and eye for dialogue can sourlu miss. By that you obviously know what I mean, it is between us. As always count on me.
That said your take on most issues is often SOBER. I have no BEEF whatsoever but one cannot fail to smell the underlying DEFENSIVE undertones that borders on accusations which you personally rightfully abhor.
I have been wrong before but just REREAD your post and take off the FIGHTING gloves bro. What do you see?
Now on Phil's post his lamentations can be summed as cries from DYSFUNCTION nay compromised institutions. None of these is worth the words written in their defense unless when expediency takes precedence. Our leaders' statements are not only unmeasured but provide fertile grounds for speculations. The past is so full with case studies so much so that you must pretend to be blind to infer.
Victimhood and entitlement are popular psychological themes. They are two sides of the same coin and have been dissceted for ages. Foes often deride others by reducing genuine griviences as victimhood. But again you are never wrong unless you know when others are right.
Well, I do not think you are exactly a grievance monger. Let us agree to disagree on this one.
ReplyDeleteP.S; Who, by the way is "The Government"? Conversely, who are the 'adversaries" of the govt?
Phil, about the Prime Minister's security, you conveniently left my own statement in the same comment you are quoting; "it may have been an oversight..". Forming a dogma by cobbling together quotations, Phil, is sophistry.
all in all looking at the above arguments, we are actually saying the same thing but with different flavors (perspectives)
ReplyDeletefirst before we talk of the tragedy of these two lost lives, we have the uniquely unusual two in one govt a PNU side considered the "de-facto ruling party govt" (i simpy have no way of expressing this) and the ODM side considered the "disadvantaged or lesser priviledged party in govt", ridiculous as it may be, depending on who (which party supporter) is talking govt means different things so any accusation of govt is no longer a meaningful term. that aside lets move on
having cleared that we then have two possiblities in this tragedy, whether it was an accident or not and generally we agree more or less agree we cannot rule out either possibility.
based on recent history, the ODM support including myself are a little more hesitant to beleive accident and would prefer to first discount the not an accident premise while the PNU support cannot see any reason why not proceed on the ground it was an accident. same thing different starting points of reference. we just want to discount one first then the other.
should one be discounted, then probe further the underlying complications e.g if it was not an accident, who would want to harm any of the victims, or conversely if it was an accident, was it due to incompetence, lack of skills, poor instrumentation, etc.
basically we agree and are saying the same thing but weirdly enough, we prefer to out-shout each other.
as always, we are priviledged here in that a) we are not the victims but more improtantly b) we have opportunity to c) reason and evaluate objectively each plausible theory without the pressure of direct responsibility or tragic circumstance of being victim.
my suggestion is to lay out the possibilities and by elimination or other method narrow down the probabilities and compare or evaluate these against the official versions. i however do not see any reason why a leader need join the fray of speculation considering they have considerably more resources at their disposal.
UrXlnc
Bad weather cannot by itself bring down a plane unless some pilot decides to fly straight into the eye of a tornado. And we have been lucky in these parts not to have been visited by one. I would not be surprised if the bad weather Mwakwere is alluding to was just mist which then obviously raises the question of competence on the part of the young pilot.
ReplyDeleteThe rate at which choppers and other light aircraft from Wilson airport have been dropping from the skies ought to have made the regulatory authorities conduct some serious audit on the contraptions themselves and their handlers.
Big question is whether the requisite competence to undertake such a task on a continuous basis is available locally. I think not, hence the could-not-see theories from Mwakwere, Ruto and assorted villagers.
My only question is this, were these ministers on official duty?
ReplyDeleteIf not, and I presume they were not as they were enroute to ODM campaign rallies, it would mean that they met their fate on a 'private excursion'. So why should we give the inept Mwakwere the impossible task of finding out what really went down (literally). I mean, why should the government worry about what ministers do on their private time? We should blame the government only if the aircraft was owned and serviced by the government and the ministers were on official duty. Lets face it, these jamaas were simply enjoying their one million tax payer funded monthly salaries.
You see, we forget that helicopters and airplanes are simply matatus for the rich. We have all willfully boarded matatus that have been declared death traps. Why should we provide the rich in society better safety standards? The way I see it, if my sister is allowed to jump into a matatu with three wheels and no brakes, then a minister must also fly in a plane with one wing and an ex-KBS driver as pilot.
The fact is the entire transportation system in Kenya is a national disaster. We know very well that the government cannot regulate or monitor safety in the transport sector. Hakuna pesa/skill.
kumekucha??CHRIS OR WHOMEVER HANDLING THIS BLOG??
ReplyDeleteI read this post and i remembered a anonymous post- posted here this week about a young man who was on the roof to of a house that the plan missed to crash in-he was quoted saying he was repairing the roof of the house by the daily nation -odd when the plan crashed next to him and missed him an inch?? then the stroy gets weird - he claims he did not see the plan because the visibility was not good?? yet he was replacing a roof on a house??
then at this stage it becomes more weird and confusing? he only come forward with this information on Wednesday and yet he was the only witness on ground when the plan crashed next to where he was building the roof of the house??
1. how can one climb the roof of a house to add or repair a roof when one can't see??(bad visibility) and how can one not see a plane falling right next to him?? because of lack of visibility (as per the nation report that interviewed this young man aged 19??
Kenyans doesn't this sound suspicious??
more suspicious is that i can't find the story on kumekucha anymore?? why did Chris remove it and i remember to was posted several times on here??
what are Chris or the government hiding?? where is the post?? an anonymous person posted it on here and asked that question and after reading this post about visibility problems i went back on the other posts searching for that same story but i can't find it??
anyway anyone can get it from the nation newspaper about the young man who missed death by a whisker and he come forward to give information only on Wednesday
my questions still remain- how was he putting up a roof on a house with 0% visibility when he couldn't even see a large plane and hear the loud sound of it scuttling downward?? weird weird- ODM AND ALL THE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATORS SHOULD INTERVIEW THIS YOUNG MAN- THIS LOOKS LIKE A PLANNED PERSON POSTED TO DERAIL THE TRUTH.
kalamari
ReplyDeletesound logic, although it comes across as insensitive, but you raise some good points.
reminds me of another sour note
its rather ironic, that the newly appointed roads minister perishes in an air accident on a trip that could easly have been done in a road trip but due to the poor road conditions most MPs would rather use air transport.
so what exactly does that tell us about our transport system, that a) we have terrible road infrastructure/network , b) rail system is virtually inoperable or inadequate and c) judging by teh number of high profile air accident victims, out air transport is exponentially becoming a high risk transport option.
d) as kalmari alludes to above, public transport services are a highly camouflaged coffin service at the worst or teller service at best (as gangsters hijack and rob passengers)
leaves us with the one true safe transport option of walking to wherever you need to get to (assuming you do not meet muggers or hungry cops)
.... maybe we should just stay at home
UrXlnc
REPORTED THAT THE PILOT WHO FLEW THE PLANE THAT KONES AND LABOSO DIED ON WAS EXPERIENCED!! READ ON- WHO IS THIS CLAIMING THAT THE PILOT WAS NOT EXPERIENCED???
ReplyDeleteAviation body says Pilot was experienced
Publication Date: 6/12/2008
Pilot Schner-Christopher who was flying the ill-fated Cessna 210 airplane that crashed and killed him alongside Roads minister, Kipkalya Kones, Home Affairs assistant minister, Lorna Laboso and police officer, Kennedy Bett was an experienced pilot.
Christopher had clocked 500 flying hours in the Cessna six-seater plane that the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) says was well maintained and had a valid airworthiness certificate.
According to the KCAA Public Relations Officer, Mutia Mwandiko, the plane was airworthy and fully insured.
But as the investigators continue to piece together what could have happened before the crash, it has emerged that the pilot was using the visual flight rule as opposed to the instrument control rule, where the pilot receives directions from the control tower.
Visual flight
Aviation sources say that in visual flight rule, the pilot uses landmarks such as escarpments, mobile provider base transmission stations (masts) and bridges to mark the flight path to the destination.
They said he left Wilson Airport and confirmed he had been successfully transferred to the area control, which monitors all flying aircraft countrywide.
Most pilots who opt to use the visual flight rule, prefer to communicate with their airborne colleagues and advise each other on weather patterns and the heights of their respective flight paths.
Mr Mwandiko said it was common for pilots flying over Maasai Mara to use the visual flight rule.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3016&art_id=vn20080607083558386C989464
ReplyDeleteJune 07 2008 at 11:19AM
By Angela Quintal
President Thabo Mbeki has publicly disagreed with the World Economic Forum on Africa that there is a crisis of leadership on the continent. He and other African leaders came under fire in the three-day forum in Cape Town by WEF participants, including Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who rebuked them for their silence on Zimbabwe and turning a blind eye to dictators.
Odinga was clearly the WEF's flavour of the week, with the "lame duck" Mbeki very much Friday's man and the subject of repeated criticism for his handling of the Zimbabwean crisis.
South African Wendy Luhabe, who also co-chaired the WEF, was among Odinga's new disciples.
Like many other participants she bemoaned the quality of political leadership, but said that if Odinga represented the new face of Africa, then there was hope for the future.
"Our leaders are simply not stepping up to the challenge. There is a crisis of leadership in the world, and South Africa is no exception," she told a discussion on the cost of crime earlier in the week.
Seated next to Mbeki, she told the closing plenary session of the WEF that there was a "conspiracy of silence among African leaders" to address critical issues. This made it difficult for the continent "to translate its challenges into what we would consider to be unprecedented opportunities".
Luhabe said business and civic leaders, as well as stakeholders should also respond to these challenges. This echoed her earlier comments, when she acknowledged that business leaders had also failed Zimbabwe by remaining silent.
Mbeki would not accept the criticism or the generalisations about the continent's leadership.
"There is much better clarity in the political leadership on the continent," he maintained. "There is greater clarity on how to respond to economic challenges. And there is an appreciation of the need to deal with conflict."
In terms of governance, the continent was "evolving in the correct direction".
While avoiding any mention of Zimbabwe, he used Nigeria as an example of the way the quality of leadership had changed. Mbeki told delegates that military strongman Sani Abacha had lied to him about the fate of activist Ken Saro Wiwa, promising he would not be harmed, only to hang him once he (Mbeki) left Nigeria. All these years later, Nigeria was developing in a good and positive way, with President Umaru Yar'Adua reviewing the electoral system.
Several of the participants present at the forum, which drew more than 800 international and local business, civic and political leaders to Cape Town, spoke of a new generation of leaders.
Among them was Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change secretary-general Tendai Biti, who spoke of a "generational and ideological transformation" in Africa.
"The likes of President Mugabe are a generation of the past, the generation of violence. There is a major transition taking place in Africa."
Meanwhile, the ANC, which has also tried to paint itself as a generation of new leaders, yesterday issued a statement expressing concern about MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai's detention - the second in a week - and reports that his campaign rallies have been banned indefinitely.
"If these reports are correct they signal a grave threat to the prospect of an environment conducive to a free and fair run-off election. The ANC calls for all state institutions and all parties in Zimbabwe to make every possible effort to ensure that the SADC guidelines on free and fair elections are upheld," ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte said.
REPORTED THAT THE PILOT WHO FLEW THE PLANE THAT KONES AND LABOSO DIED ON WAS EXPERIENCED!! READ ON- WHO IS THIS CLAIMING THAT THE PILOT WAS NOT EXPERIENCED???
ReplyDeleteAviation body says Pilot was experienced
Publication Date: 6/12/2008
Pilot Schner-Christopher who was flying the ill-fated Cessna 210 airplane that crashed and killed him alongside Roads minister, Kipkalya Kones, Home Affairs assistant minister, Lorna Laboso and police officer, Kennedy Bett was an experienced pilot.
Christopher had clocked 500 flying hours in the Cessna six-seater plane that the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) says was well maintained and had a valid airworthiness certificate.
According to the KCAA Public Relations Officer, Mutia Mwandiko, the plane was airworthy and fully insured.
But as the investigators continue to piece together what could have happened before the crash, it has emerged that the pilot was using the visual flight rule as opposed to the instrument control rule, where the pilot receives directions from the control tower.
Visual flight
Aviation sources say that in visual flight rule, the pilot uses landmarks such as escarpments, mobile provider base transmission stations (masts) and bridges to mark the flight path to the destination.
They said he left Wilson Airport and confirmed he had been successfully transferred to the area control, which monitors all flying aircraft countrywide.
Most pilots who opt to use the visual flight rule, prefer to communicate with their airborne colleagues and advise each other on weather patterns and the heights of their respective flight paths.
Mr Mwandiko said it was common for pilots flying over Maasai Mara to use the visual flight rule.
2:51 PM
kUMEKUCH?? CHRIS?? PHIL?? TAABU
ReplyDeleteWHY ARE YOU REMOVING POST ON MASHADA?? WHERE IS THE STORY OF THE YOUNG MAN ON THE ROOF TOP??
EVEN THE NATION NEWSPAPER HAS REMOVED THE SAME STORY ON THEIR ONLINE EDITION?
IS IT A COINCIDENCE??
WHERE IS THE STORY? THIS YOUNG MAN SHOULD BE QUESTIONED BY THE INVESTIGATORS AGAIN- HIS STORY DOES NOT ADD UP AND HE WAS THE ONLY WITNESS!! SO WE ARE TOLD BY THE NATION NEWSPAPER ON THE ROOF TOP OF THE NEXT HOUSE AND THE ONLY EYE WITNESS NEAR THE PLANE CRASH
AND GUESS WHAT HE ONLY COME FORWARD WITH HIS STORY ON WEDNESDAY - THE STORY READS LIKE WHAT PNU MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT HAVE BEEN REHEARSING FROM IS THAT A COINCIDENCE TOO??
WHO IS HTIS YOUNG MAN???
REPORTED IN THE NATION
Engineers from Kenya Civil Aviation and Transport ministry indicated the light aircraft did not have any mechanical problems when it left Wilson Airport at 2.18pm on Tuesday.
“The status of the wreckage tells it might have been moving at a high speed,” Agriculture minister William Ruto, who visited the scene of the accident early Wednesday, said.
According to reports, the aircraft first hit three trees and landed on the roof of a house on a steep hill in Konjong’a Village of Narok North District.
REPORTED IN THE STANDARD
"In the interim, our investigation shows that the plane came down in bad weather," Mr Peter Wakihia, the Director of Investigation at the Transport ministry, told The Standard on the telephone.
The aircraft, which crashed shortly before 3pm, was expected to land at an airstrip in Kericho.
Police Air-wing Commandant, Mr Gilbert Gitonga, said last night: "We got the reports of the incident a few minutes after 3pm."
He described the crash site as a forest and infested area with escarpments rising as high as 10, 000 feet above sea level.No lessons learnt
MINSTERY OF TRANSPORT REPORTED?
ARE THEY QUALIFIED TO DO SUCH AN INVESTIGATION?? AND ON SUCH SHORT NOTICE COME OUT WITH RESULTS?? (more weird as you start putting all the reports together) keep reading???
Findings by investigators from the Aircraft Accident Investigations Unit of the Transport ministry show that the aircraft was flying in poor visibility at an altitude of 9,000 feet above sea level at the time of the accident.
“The aircraft lost height, hit trees and a roof of a house and then crashed,” a statement by the Public Relations department of the Transport ministry said. It was signed on behalf of minister, Chirau Mwakwere
kumekucha!
ReplyDeletewhere is the story this blogger is asking for?? anon2:41 PM i have checked the past 2 days posts here and even took time to go through the daily nation online and i can't find it?? does anyone know where i can find it- the young man eye witness to the crash??
please post me the link here/
thanks
What's so special about Kones' death? Is he the first one to die in the plane crash or the last? How many other people - some more prominent and more important than him - have perished in our skies and outside Kenya?
ReplyDeleteHe even died a better death after masterminding the slaughter of thousands of members of other tribes in the Rift Valley in 1992 Kalenjin slaughter of innocent people.
Kenyans should shed no tears for this killer. God has partly given justice to the people Kones and his ODM gang organsied for their slaughter. A killer is a just a killer no matter how much you try to baptise him.
Kalamari, you make a lot of sense to me. Your take on this is trully encouraging. It shows there is coming a time, unless I am very much mistaken, when we shall all stop being afraid of our own shadows.
ReplyDeleteHopefully it wasnt the PNU faction of the gova, or even worse ODM.
ReplyDeleteits amazing how much rubbish idle minds can generate.
ReplyDeleteits hardly the first plane to crash and that Ainamoi MP was killed because he was screwing someone else's wife.
if you want murderers, go look for those brutes who were burning little children in churches and raping 7 year olds in Timboroa ati while 'fighting for democracy'
Find something useful to do with your lives instead of idle gossip and then blaming other kenyans for your poverty. All of you.
Witness tells of close brush with death
ReplyDeleteStory by MUCHEMI WACHIRA
Publication Date: 6/15/2008
Konjong’a village in Narok North district is one area motorists find horrible to drive through during the day owing to heavy fog.
From morning to evening, clouds of fog envelop the entire area reducing visibility considerably.
According to Kenya Civil Aviation Authority experts, the fog could have been the cause of the plane crash that claimed the lives of Roads minister Kipkalia Kones and Home Affairs assistant minister Lorna Loboso.
The pilot of the Cessna 210E single-engine aircraft, Christopher Schenerr, a German national, also died. The fourth victim was Kones’s bodyguard, Constable Kennedy Kipruto Bett.
Traumatised
Rising to 9,000 feet above sea level, Konjong’a has rugged, high terrain. It has straight-up ridges and is heavily forested. But some daring people have constructed houses on these ridges.
At the site of the aircraft crash, one of the most hilly parts on the ridge, there is just one house, but the owner, Mr David Gathii, a retired CID officer does not live there.
Kamau Muthoni, 18, is the only resident of the five-acre compound, and it is he who witnessed the crash that left him traumatised.
And he only talked in the morning the following day after recovering from the shock.
“What I can recall is seeing the image of a big object like a plane that dived over me and hit three cyprus trees before plunging on top of the roof of the main house,” Kamau narrated.
The proximity of the disabled plane as it came hurtling down was magnified by the fact he was on top of the roof carrying out repairs.
Mr Gathii, who is a businessman in Nairobi, had asked him to construct the hut about 50 metres away from the main house.
According to Mr Kamau, there are several tall cyprus trees in the compound, and because the aircraft was flying very low, it struck one of the trees, severing the branches.
Reduced to pieces
It then dived between two other trees, smashing into the roof of the main house and then plunged to the hard ground.
The plane did not burst into flames, but it was reduced to pieces following the impact.
But Mr Kamau cannot recall what happened afterwards as the impact of the crash hurled him from the roof where he was doing his work to the ground.
“It happened so fast that I cannot explain every detail. I only remember the loud bang that made me fall down from the top of the roof I was constructing.
“I lost consciousness for some minutes and when I regained it, I fled downhill holding my hammer.
“I only returned later when I heard voices of people coming to the scene of the crash,” he said in an interview with the Sunday Nation.
One of the first people to arrive on the scene was Harrison Gachathi, a shop owner at the Konjong’a Shopping Centre.
One of the first people to arrive at the scene was Harrison Gachathi, a shop owner at the Konjong’a Shopping Centre.
“I remember hearing some bhang downhill. But I could not imagine it was a plane because it is hard to see planes using that route.
“At first I thought it was a vehicle that has crashed. So I decided to go and find out,” Mr Gachathi said in an interview at the scene.
Area police boss Patrick Wambani arrived at the scene at around 5 pm and started the rescue mission.
Then the area district commissioner, Mr Andrew Karia came after 9 pm while the Rift Valley provincial police officer, Mr Josphat Ashimalla arrived after 10 pm.
Why did it take the district security team so long to arrive? “We were only informed about the crash at around 3.30 pm and the distance was beyond our capacity to communicate,” Mr Karia said.
Narok Town, which is the district headquarters, is 80 kilometres away from the scene of the accident.
And the 25-kilometre stretch from Nairegi Enkare junction at Nairobi-Narok Road, which leads to the village, is bumpy.
The rescue mission, which included the Kenya Police, the Kenya Red Cross personnel and the local people could not do anything that fateful night because it was dark.
And owing to the chilly weather that comes with light rains, the whole place was slippery.
Besides, the bodies had first to be identified before they could be flown to the Lee Funeral Home in Nairobi.
And so they had to stay at the scene of the crash overnight. They were only removed the following day after the Chief Government Pathologist, Dr Moses Njue arrived.
Dr Njue who first familiarised himself with the area assembled all the pieces of the four bodies that had been strewn all over.
He was expected to do postmortem on the bodies later.
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/n....1&newsid=125393