ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 322782
| Date: | Saturday 19 July 2003 |
| Time: | 18:00 |
| Type: |  Swearingen SA226-TC Metro II |
| Owner/operator: | Ryan Blake Air Charter |
| Registration: | ZS-OYI |
| MSN: | TC-349 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1980 |
| Engine model: | Garrett TPE331-3UW-303G |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 14 / Occupants: 14 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Mount Kenya -
 Kenya
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Nairobi-Wilson Airport (WIL/HKNW) |
| Samburu Airport (UAS/HKSB) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The Swearingen Metro plane, carrying 12 American tourists and two South African crew members, departed Nairobi-Wilson Airport at 15:58 for a flight to the Samburu national park. The flight plan was to allow the crew to fly round Mount Kenya before landing at a private airstrip in the game park.
The airplane crashed into the eastern slope of Point Lenana (16,450 feet), which is the third highest peak of Mount Kenya. The crash site was located approx. 450 feet below the snow-capped top. Debris scattered into the adjacent valleys of the peak, and then burnt throughout the night.
Probable cause: The pilots failure to maintain horizontal and vertical situational awareness of the aircrafts proximity to the surrounding terrain, resulting in inadequate clearance, and controlled flight into terrain.
Contributing factors:
- Unfamiliarity with the airspace and the route in particular and the existence of high ground on the planned flight route.
- Inadequate flight planning by the pilots and distraction of their attention when they were instructed to contact Nanyuki.
- Poor pilot briefing by the Wilson ATC briefing office.
- Poor communication between the air traffic control units.
- Failure of the radar controller to advise the pilot of termination of radar service.
- Lack of a radar system minimum safe altitude warning to the radar controller
- Poor civil military coordination during transit through the military airspace.
Sources:
SABC
AP
Sunday Nation
Location
Images:
photo (c) Pol van Damme, via Werner Fischdick; Lanseria (HLA); January 2001
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
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