Kenyan plane crashes, 3 reported dead

By The guardian reporter

A tragic aircraft accident has claimed at least three lives after the plane crashed Sunday night minutes after leaving Mwanza airport.

Remains of the Fokker 27 MK 500 aircraft registration No. 5Y-SXP operated by Safari Express Cargo Ltd, were sighted by the search-and-rescue team Monday morning at the Serengeti National Park, about 15 miles from the Kenya-Tanzania border according to a statement from Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority circulated to the media yesterday.

 

All the three occupants are reported to have died in the crash. 

The aircraft left Mwanza Airport on Sunday at around 19:26 hours. However, TCAA said the aircraft lost communication with the radar at Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) at 20:05 hours when it reached an altitude of 17000 feet and just 40 kilometers before the border with Kenya.

 

The pilot is said to have not communicated whether the plane was developing a fault or not.

 

The statement said investigation about the cause of the accident is in progress.

 

The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has clarified that the aircraft, a Fokker F-27 MK-500, was supposed to land at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) at around 20:36 hours but it never did.

 

“The aircraft did not (land) as scheduled and an inquiry (was) sent to Tanzania as set out in the international standards,” read the statement from the KCAA.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN