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Mwihoko plane crash: Missing black box found
Kiambu county Fire and Rescue Brigade, together with security officers, clear debris after a light plane crashed at Mwihoko, Githurai 45.
The black box of the light aircraft that crashed in Mwihoko, which was initially declared missing, has been found.
This was confirmed Friday by Fred Kabunge, the chief investigator of aircraft accidents at the State Department of Transport, coming just hours after an appeal to the public. The search for the black box began on Thursday night.
Githurai 45 Sub-County Police Commander Maurice Odanga had earlier told the Nation that they had asked residents to return everything that was picked from the scene.
“We are asking locals to return the things that they collected from the scene so we can get the black box,“ he said, suggesting an initial fear that one of the residents, who were first on the scene, could have picked up the important equipment.
Hours later, Mr Kabunge said the device had been recovered with the help of security officers and aviation officials who have been combing the area.
The black box will now be sent abroad for analysis that will shed light on what caused Amref's air ambulance to crash just three minutes after takeoff from Wilson Airport.
''It will be shipped to our counterparts in the US, Canada or France for further examination and analysis. The recorders are very critical for us as we conduct investigations,’’ said Mr Kabunge
He also indicated that an interim report on the crash will be out in the next 12 days, while the entire investigation will take about 12 months.
''An accident like this will take some time to conclude in terms of investigations...but we are required by law to release a preliminary report which then takes in to account the initial factual information. Our main focus now is to gather as much evidence as we can,’’ he added.
The word black box is a general term referring to the Flight Data Recorder (FDR), which records flight data like altitude and speed, and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), which records sounds and conversations from the cockpit.
The crash killed six people - four passengers and two locals at the scene.
Amref Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stephen Gitau said the organisation is working closely with the investigating team to ascertain what might have caused the crash.
