Buffalo down in Kenya
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Buffalo down in Kenya
Nairobi - A Kenyan plane carrying aid and fuel to neighbouring Somalia crashed and burst into flames on Saturday, but officials said all three crew survived.
The twin-engine Buffalo plane chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) went down five minutes after taking off from Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta international airport.
"We cannot imagine how they are still alive," ICRC official Jean Claude Chesaux said of the crew. "The aircraft is in pieces. There is nothing left."
Airport police chief Beatrice Nduta said the plane, which was carrying more than a dozen fuel drums, suffered engine problems. It snapped power lines as it crashed in a residential area, but no one on the ground was injured, officials said.
The crew were not badly hurt, Chesaux said.
The twin-engine Buffalo plane chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) went down five minutes after taking off from Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta international airport.
"We cannot imagine how they are still alive," ICRC official Jean Claude Chesaux said of the crew. "The aircraft is in pieces. There is nothing left."
Airport police chief Beatrice Nduta said the plane, which was carrying more than a dozen fuel drums, suffered engine problems. It snapped power lines as it crashed in a residential area, but no one on the ground was injured, officials said.
The crew were not badly hurt, Chesaux said.
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Not very clear how many on board
http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=40093
Three male passengers were rescued before the plane burst into flames.
The plane hit a high voltage line and disrupted power supply and facilities and along Mombasa highway.
Kenya Airports Authority spokesman Dominic Ngigi said in a statement that the buffalo plane belonging to Sky Relief Services was departing from Jomo Kenyatta international Airport for Baidoa in Somalia.
According to the Daliy Nation:
Two pilots and a cabin crew member narrowly escaped death
But http://www.timesnews.co.ke/31dec06/nwsstory/news4.html
The plane, carrying 20 drums of jet fuel
Kenya Airports Police Unit CID Chief Judy Ndeda confirmed that the plane which had three male passengers on board
The passengers, together with the pilots escaped with minor injuries before it burst into flames and were rushed to Mater Hospital where they are undergoing treatment and checks.
http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=40093
Three male passengers were rescued before the plane burst into flames.
The plane hit a high voltage line and disrupted power supply and facilities and along Mombasa highway.
Kenya Airports Authority spokesman Dominic Ngigi said in a statement that the buffalo plane belonging to Sky Relief Services was departing from Jomo Kenyatta international Airport for Baidoa in Somalia.
According to the Daliy Nation:
Two pilots and a cabin crew member narrowly escaped death
But http://www.timesnews.co.ke/31dec06/nwsstory/news4.html
The plane, carrying 20 drums of jet fuel
Kenya Airports Police Unit CID Chief Judy Ndeda confirmed that the plane which had three male passengers on board
The passengers, together with the pilots escaped with minor injuries before it burst into flames and were rushed to Mater Hospital where they are undergoing treatment and checks.
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Crew safe / Nil Pax
Captain Kariuki Wambugu, his First Officer Francis Njoroge, and Load Master Barnabas Mutinda were rescued by Kenya Airports Authority staff and Ruai residents after the aircraft ran into trouble shortly after the 6.30 am takeoff.
The wreckage cuaght fire shortly after KAA personnel, Mr Kevin Shikuku and Mr James Kioi rescued the crew.There were no passengers on board.
The wreckage cuaght fire shortly after KAA personnel, Mr Kevin Shikuku and Mr James Kioi rescued the crew.There were no passengers on board.
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Interview Captain crashed DHC5 in Nairobi
In today's Daily Nation this interview can be found with the captain of the Buffalo that went down near Nairobi on 30 December 2006.
NEWS EXTRA
Retired soldier and pilot with a knack for surviving air disasters
Story by DAVID MUGONYI
Publication Date: 1/17/2007
He believes he cannot die in a plane crash and has survived more than 10 horrific incidents — crashes and shootings — while in the air.
Captain Frank Njoroge has a mysterious way of surviving tragedies and indeed two weeks ago, he crawled out of a fiercely burning plane? unscathed.
He was one of the three crew members who managed to evade death by a whisker.
They were barely three minutes in the air after takeoff when they came tumbling down in Nairobi’s Ruai area.
The plane was carrying 14 drums of petrol and diesel. Immediately it crashed, it burst into flames.
He said: “This was a bomb. If we had spent a little time in that plane, we would have been roasted badly.”
“This time round it was God who saved me and my colleagues? I cannot say it is anything? It is God,” he said.
He asked: “Did you see that fire? Can you imagine what would have happened to us?
“Before that, we had to wriggle the aircraft to avoid masts and buildings. I am told we hit an electricity wire and eventually a latrine on our path.”
He kept monitoring the speed and height of the plane immediately the left engine burst. His message to the captain was that of encouragement: “Everything is fine.”
Even when we were going to crash, I maintained it.
Captain Njoroge was a co-pilot in the Buffalo DHC 5 belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross that left the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for Bardere, Somalia. They were on a humanitarian mission.
He says they survived because they did not panic at all. “We heard a loud bang immediately after take off? and the left engine quit; that is how Turbo jet engines behave when they fail to function,” he added.
Captain Njoroge had to do three things at the same time: inform the controller, keep encouraging the pilot that they were fine, and ensure there was no panic.
They could not turn back to the airport because when they took off, there was another plane, which was just about to land.
He explained that when the left engine “quit”, the plane wanted to turn to that side as it normally happens because there was power only on the right.
When the plane crashed and burst into a ball of fire, they remained calm to decide their escape route.
“Our only escape was through the upward hatch above the captain’s seat. However, because of the impact of the crash, it was not easy to open. It was a mangled wreck.”
However, the three managed to push a little space open where they first pushed Mr Mutinda Kioo, the aircraft technician out. Eventually, captain Njoroge followed, being pushed by the pilot, and pulled out by Mr Mutinda. In less than two minutes, all the three were out.
At this moment, the plane was completely on fire but the captain managed to get out as the residents of Ruai assisted him.
He gives credit to Kenyans when it comes to rescue missions.
Captain Njoroge said if all the three struggled to get out without planning, they would all have burnt in the plane.
He said many pilots die in the planes trying to save navigation bag or other important equipment, but this was not the case with them.
In an interview on February 2001, Captain Njoroge had his now familiar line. He said: “You know, I don’t fear death, but I don’t think I will invite it.|”
He was referring to an incident in which his military instincts saved him from gunmen in Kismayu, Somalia where he had just taken miraa (khat).
He had just delivered the produce to a trader in Kismayu before hell broke loose with gunmen shooting at him and the plane.
One of the shots tore across his breast pocket after he dodged it, having been trained and served in the army for many years.
This was not his first shooting incident in Somalia. In total, he had been shot at five times while in Somalia.
Captain Njoroge crash landed in Mktua, Tsavo during the El Nino rains in 1997.
He is a former Buffalo jet pilot with the Kenya Air Force, and has been trained both in the UK and the United States. He retired from the army 40 days before the 1982 military coup. He joined the Directorate of the Civil Aviation (DCA) in 1984 as chief pilot and instructor. Captain Njoroge, 51, went to the Mother of Apostles Seminary, Eldoret, for ‘O’ levels before joining Menengai High School for his ‘A’levels. He joined the Kenya Air Force straight from high school in 1977.
NEWS EXTRA
Retired soldier and pilot with a knack for surviving air disasters
Story by DAVID MUGONYI
Publication Date: 1/17/2007
He believes he cannot die in a plane crash and has survived more than 10 horrific incidents — crashes and shootings — while in the air.
Captain Frank Njoroge has a mysterious way of surviving tragedies and indeed two weeks ago, he crawled out of a fiercely burning plane? unscathed.
He was one of the three crew members who managed to evade death by a whisker.
They were barely three minutes in the air after takeoff when they came tumbling down in Nairobi’s Ruai area.
The plane was carrying 14 drums of petrol and diesel. Immediately it crashed, it burst into flames.
He said: “This was a bomb. If we had spent a little time in that plane, we would have been roasted badly.”
“This time round it was God who saved me and my colleagues? I cannot say it is anything? It is God,” he said.
He asked: “Did you see that fire? Can you imagine what would have happened to us?
“Before that, we had to wriggle the aircraft to avoid masts and buildings. I am told we hit an electricity wire and eventually a latrine on our path.”
He kept monitoring the speed and height of the plane immediately the left engine burst. His message to the captain was that of encouragement: “Everything is fine.”
Even when we were going to crash, I maintained it.
Captain Njoroge was a co-pilot in the Buffalo DHC 5 belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross that left the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for Bardere, Somalia. They were on a humanitarian mission.
He says they survived because they did not panic at all. “We heard a loud bang immediately after take off? and the left engine quit; that is how Turbo jet engines behave when they fail to function,” he added.
Captain Njoroge had to do three things at the same time: inform the controller, keep encouraging the pilot that they were fine, and ensure there was no panic.
They could not turn back to the airport because when they took off, there was another plane, which was just about to land.
He explained that when the left engine “quit”, the plane wanted to turn to that side as it normally happens because there was power only on the right.
When the plane crashed and burst into a ball of fire, they remained calm to decide their escape route.
“Our only escape was through the upward hatch above the captain’s seat. However, because of the impact of the crash, it was not easy to open. It was a mangled wreck.”
However, the three managed to push a little space open where they first pushed Mr Mutinda Kioo, the aircraft technician out. Eventually, captain Njoroge followed, being pushed by the pilot, and pulled out by Mr Mutinda. In less than two minutes, all the three were out.
At this moment, the plane was completely on fire but the captain managed to get out as the residents of Ruai assisted him.
He gives credit to Kenyans when it comes to rescue missions.
Captain Njoroge said if all the three struggled to get out without planning, they would all have burnt in the plane.
He said many pilots die in the planes trying to save navigation bag or other important equipment, but this was not the case with them.
In an interview on February 2001, Captain Njoroge had his now familiar line. He said: “You know, I don’t fear death, but I don’t think I will invite it.|”
He was referring to an incident in which his military instincts saved him from gunmen in Kismayu, Somalia where he had just taken miraa (khat).
He had just delivered the produce to a trader in Kismayu before hell broke loose with gunmen shooting at him and the plane.
One of the shots tore across his breast pocket after he dodged it, having been trained and served in the army for many years.
This was not his first shooting incident in Somalia. In total, he had been shot at five times while in Somalia.
Captain Njoroge crash landed in Mktua, Tsavo during the El Nino rains in 1997.
He is a former Buffalo jet pilot with the Kenya Air Force, and has been trained both in the UK and the United States. He retired from the army 40 days before the 1982 military coup. He joined the Directorate of the Civil Aviation (DCA) in 1984 as chief pilot and instructor. Captain Njoroge, 51, went to the Mother of Apostles Seminary, Eldoret, for ‘O’ levels before joining Menengai High School for his ‘A’levels. He joined the Kenya Air Force straight from high school in 1977.
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Superman ?..............
Now , would I want to fly with this guy ?
The good news :- He has an amazing history of escaping from 'flames' and best of all , is able to 'dodge' bullets due to his military training ( we could do with him in Iraq/Afghanistan ).
The bad news :- The insurers would be unlikely to humour him , his 9 lives must be close to exhaustion ?
I am , strangely , doing my annual recurrent Survival training tomorrow , can we get Njoroge to make a guest appearance ? The fact that we are 3000nms + away should be no problem to the winged wonder ??
May I also praise the press here ? The Daily Nation has wonderfully upheld the glorious traditions of the British press when it comes to reporting aviation. However , even the Sun would be proud to compete with such gems as ' aircraft tumbling down' , 'wriggle the aircraft' , 'hit a latrine'( !!) ,engine BURST , Buffalo 'JET' , and the news that our hero was DCA Chief Pilot / Instructor -what a standard to set !!
Answer :- Yes !
Who says flying is dull.............
The good news :- He has an amazing history of escaping from 'flames' and best of all , is able to 'dodge' bullets due to his military training ( we could do with him in Iraq/Afghanistan ).
The bad news :- The insurers would be unlikely to humour him , his 9 lives must be close to exhaustion ?
I am , strangely , doing my annual recurrent Survival training tomorrow , can we get Njoroge to make a guest appearance ? The fact that we are 3000nms + away should be no problem to the winged wonder ??
May I also praise the press here ? The Daily Nation has wonderfully upheld the glorious traditions of the British press when it comes to reporting aviation. However , even the Sun would be proud to compete with such gems as ' aircraft tumbling down' , 'wriggle the aircraft' , 'hit a latrine'( !!) ,engine BURST , Buffalo 'JET' , and the news that our hero was DCA Chief Pilot / Instructor -what a standard to set !!
Answer :- Yes !
Who says flying is dull.............
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You have to ask, why does this aircraft crash after an engine failure??? Hopefully the AAIB Kenyas' report will reveal all....or not. What was this guys actual flying back ground? Is there a shortage of experienced ex-pats prepared to fly for the United Nations?
Last edited by Globalwarning; 19th Jan 2007 at 21:16.
