CESSNA 172 CRASHES DURING TESTFLIGHT OUT OF KIJIPWA AIRSTRIP IN KILIFI COUNTY
(Posted 03rd May 2014)
(Picture taken from www.flighttrainingcentre.co.ke)
A light aircraft, reportedly a recently assembled Cessna 172, crashed yesterday afternoon near Vipingo for hitherto unexplained reasons. The pilot, sole occupant of the plane, died in the crash. Local police were reported to be swiftly at the scene so secure the surroundings, remove the body and guard the crashed plane and investigators from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority air accident investigation department are arriving today at the coast to inspect the wreckage, secure evidence and begin their painstaking work to find the cause of the crash, be it mechanical or pilot error.
The aircraft had taken off from Kijipwa airstrip, recently in the news after Kijipwa Aviation was taken over by Blackwater founder Eric Prince who through a Hong Kong base company, DVN, acquired a 49 percent stake but is thought to actually control the company, before he then went on to in a similar deal also acquire Phoenix Aviation at Wilson Airport, a substantially larger aviation company. Kijipwa airstrip is a relatively small facility with a nontarmac strip, in the past service leisure flying and the occasional charters and is perhaps better known for pilot training.
