The helicopter that was involved in a crash accident involving Roads Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Kenya Airports Authority chairman Caleb Kositany is not new to mishaps.
The Bell 407 registration 5Y-PKI associated with former Presidential candidate Peter Keneth is prone to take off challenges going by past records.
In 2020, it failed to take off at Kericho Gold club when Cabinet Secretary for Health at the time, Mutahi Kagwe flew with it to open the Ainamoi COVID-19 quarantine centre where he was hosted by former Governor Professor Paul Chepkwony.
Mr Kagwe was forced to alight from the helicopter and use his official vehicle which was parked by the club, back to Nairobi.
He was in the company of the then acting Director-General of Health Dr Patrick Amoth and Nursing Council of Kenya boss Edna Talam along with the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee Director Osman Warfa.
Professor Chepkwony, Deputy Governor Susan Kikwai, County Health Minister Dr Patrick Mutai and County Secretary Joel Bett accompanied by local leaders were forced to bade farewell to the CS for the second time in a span of minutes, as he abandoned the flight and took to the road to Nairobi for official engagements.
“It was a scary moment then, seeing the pilot struggle to turn on the plane in vain with the CS (Kagwe) and officers under him forced to alight and seek alternative means to Nairobi. By lack, his official vehicle was still at the club with the official driver on standby” Mr Paul Chirchir, the Member of County Assembly for Kapsoit Ward said.
The plane was parked at the club until the following day when the mechanical issue it had was sorted and it flew to Nairobi on August 11, 2020.
It also made an emergency landing in Mathioya in Muranga county in February this year, in what was a pointer to the mechanical issues it has been dogged by for the past few years.
Opposition leaders associated with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga mostly used the chopper in the run up to the last general election and there are claims that it was also used by leaders in the neighbouring countries of Uganda and Tanzania in their campaigns.
A number of Ministers including former Vice President Professor George Saitoti, former Roads Minister Kipkalya Kones, Bonaya Godana, former assistant ministers – Mirugi Kariuki, Orwa Ojode, Lorna Laboso, Titus Ngoyoni are among high profile Kenyans who have perished in plane crashes.
