Nairobi-Wilson

The single aircraft was on a return flight from Doro to Nairobi, carrying four mission personnel who took part to a humanitarian mission in the region of Doro. The takeoff was performed from a muddy airstrip and the aircraft was unable to gain sufficient height after liftoff. As a result, the left wing impacted a tree trunk and the airplane crashed in a ditch, coming to rest upside down. All five occupants escaped uninjured.

The crew was completing a positioning flight from Nairobi to Garissa. On final approach to Garissa, a donkey entered the runway. The crew initiated a go-around procedure but the aircraft stalled and landed very hard. Both pilots escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The twin engine aircraft departed Nairobi-Wilson Airport on a cargo flight to Mogadishu, carrying two pilots and a load of 1,500 kilos of khat. About an hour into the flight, while in cruising altitude, the aircraft collided with a second Let L-410UVP also operated by Bluebird Aviation and registered 5Y-VVA. While the crew of 5Y-VVA was able to complete an emergency landing and the aircraft suffered small damages, 5Y-VVD entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed 30 km south of Mwingi, killing both pilots.

After touchdown at Lokichogio Airport, the crew started the braking procedure when the tyre n°1 on the nose gear burst. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the airplane overran, collided with a fence and came to rest in a ditch with its nose gear torn off. All 27 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The twin engine aircraft departed Nairobi-Wilson Airport at 1558LT on a charter flight to Samburu, carrying 12 passengers (all US citizens) and two pilots. En route, the crew decided to make a tour over the Mt Kenya before continuing to Samburu. While cruising at an altitude of 16,500 feet in clouds, the aircraft struck the eastern slope of Mt Point Lenana (third highest peak of Mt Kenya). The wreckage was found 450 feet below the summit and all 14 occupants were killed.

At liftoff, the engine failed. The aircraft stalled and crashed along the runway. There were no casualties but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

After landing at Mogadishu Airport, the propeller on the right engine went into fine pitch. The crew lost control of the airplane that veered off runway to the right. While contacting soft ground, the aircraft lost its undercarriage and its tail before coming to rest, broken in two. All 23 occupants evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

On 1 November 1997 at 09:46 hours 5H-AZM took off from Nairobi Wilson airport, for a visual flight rules flight to Zanzibar International Airport, Tanzania. It was carrying one pilot and some cargo. There were no passengers. The flight plan indicated that the aircraft had 0330 hours of fuel on departure. The pilot planned' to fly a direct route to Zanzibar with Dar-es-salaam International airport as his alternate aerodrome. After take off from Nairobi Wilson, the flight transited the southern axis lane of the Nairobi control Zone to the zone boundary. The pilot checked the Nairobi zone boundary with Nairobi Wilson Tower and was instructed by air traffic control to contact the Nairobi Control Centre. No contact was reported established by Nairobi Control with 5H-AZM. 5H-AZM contacted the Kilimanjaro Control Tower at 10:20 hours and passed his own ward estimates as Flight Information Region 10:25 hours and arrival at Zanzibar at 11:40 hours. 5H-AZM was advised that there was no reported traffic for the flight in the Kilimanjaro Terminal Control area at 'the VFR flight level 115, and at the same time instructed the aircraft to contact Dar-es-salaam Control on 119.6 MHz when in range. No further transmission was received from the aircraft. It also failed to arrive in Zanzibar. Unfruitful formal searches (involving communications, aerial and ground searches) were mounted on 3 November 1997 along the probable route area in Kenya and Tanzania. The formal search was terminated on 4 December 1997 and there after the missing aircraft incident was considered to be an 'accident. Wreckage was eventually located in the Kibo Crater near the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania on 28 August 2003, almost six years later. The wreckage of the Piper PA 31-350 was found at 15,400 feet on the Kibo wing. It was also 30 nautical miles west of its projected track. The aircraft had earlier been cleared to climb from 9,500 feet to 11,500 feet under visual flight rules.

En route from Nairobi to Mwanza, the pilot informed ATC about an engine failure and elected to return to Nairobi-Wilson Airport. Twenty minutes after takeoff, the aircraft went out of control and crashed in the Ngong Hills, near Ngong. All eight occupants were killed.

Crashed in unknown circumstances at Nairobi-Wilson Airport. There were no casualties.