Piper PA-31 Cheyenne

Crashed in unknown circumstances near Jonggol, killing all six occupants, among them high ranking officers.

ATC data indicated the airplane was in cruise flight at about 17,000 feet MSL, when the pilot deviated from the intended flight path to avoid thunderstorms. At 2150 EDT, the pilot requested clearance to climb to 19,000 MSL. At 2152, he requested a right turn out of weather and advised ATC that he was 'getting icing.' Between 2153 and 2154, the pilot's transmissions were garbled, then at 2154:38, he stated '...trying to get out of this mess.' Radar and radio contact with the airplane were lost. An in-flight breakup of the airplane occurred, and wreckage was found scattered over a 3 mile area. Postaccident examination revealed the outboard portion of the right wing had failed and separated in an upward and aft direction. Scrape marks were found on the right side of the fuselage, and there was damage to the right horizontal stabilizer and rudder. Also, there was evidence that both engines had separated in flight; they were found about 1 mile from the main wreckage. No preexisting mechanical malfunction or fatigue of the airplane was found. The pilot had received a complete weather briefing, and was advised of severe weather along the intended route of flight.

Shortly after takeoff from Liuli Airstrip, while climbing, the pilot made a sharp turn to avoid a sand dune when he lost control of the aircraft that crashed on the ground. There were no casualties but the aircraft was written off.

After takeoff from Nairobi-Wilson Airport runway 07 by night, while in initial climb, the pilot declared an emergency and reported engine problems. He was cleared to divert to the nearest airport of Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta. Shortly later, while on approach to runway 06, the pilot attempted to avoid a collision with power cables when control was lost. The aircraft rolled to the left and crashed in a field located 4,5 km short of runway. Both occupants were killed.

The airplane was level at FL220 at night when vertical fluctuations in altitude up to 500 feet above altitude were noted by the Salt Lake Center controller. Immediately thereafter, the aircraft began a descent and transponder targets were lost. A trajectory study showed the aircraft descending in a tight right turn. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the right elevator separated in negative overload with both wings separating negatively. Wreckage distribution established separation of the empennage and its associated control surfaces before the separation of the wings. A preimpact fire was witnessed and the main fuselage was destroyed by an intense post crash fire. The initiating event which resulted in the altitude divergence and descending turn could not be determined.

The flight crew was advised prior to initiating the approach that visibility at the airport had decreased to 1/8 mile with light rain, fog and obscuration. Published landing visibility minimums for the approach was 1 mile. The 150 feet wide runway had been plowed 100 feet wide, and there were snowbanks up to 3 feet high on both sides. The airplane touched down on the unplowed portion of the runway onto a snowbank, collapsing the landing gear. The flightcrew stated that the approach lights and runway were in sight during the entire approach, and that the second pilot told the pic that he was too far left and needed to correct to the right as the airplane was about to touchdown. The tower controller stated that he lost sight of the airplane as it landed due to fog.

En route at FL240, the plane entered a left spiraling descent and subsequently experienced an inflight break-up at 7,000 feet with separation of outboard wings, tail sections and internal vinyl from the nose baggage door. There was no distress call. Witnesses heard the engines and an explosive sound, then they saw the plane in a spin, trailed by falling debris. Debris was strewn over a distance of about 3.5 miles. Light weight pieces including vinyl from the baggage door, wing skin, and tail skin pieces were among the 1st debris on the wreckage path. Tail sections were found about 2.5 miles from the main wreckage with evidence of overload failure; pieces of the wings were found with evidence of downward/overload separation. No preexisting airframe failure was found that would have led to loss of control, inflight breakup, loss of pressurization or hypoxia. The plane was inactive for about 2 years before being purchased 2 months before accident. Last annual inspection was on 6/8/92. Icing was forecast from 9,000 feet to 17,000 feet msl; turbulence was forecast below 8,000 feet msl. Both occupants were killed.

On approach to Montreal-Dorval Airport, the pilot contacted ATC and reported longitudinal control problems. The aircraft started to roll left and right and the pilot maintained control using considerable aileron and rudder inputs. On short final, the twin engine aircraft crash landed short of runway 24L and came to rest in a grassy area. The pilot was injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

On final approach to Nairobi-Wilson Airport runway 07, during the last segment, the twin engine airplane lost height and landed hard. It bounced and landed hard a second time, causing the nose gear to collapse while taxiing for the apron. There were no casualties but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were good but strong winds were reported.