A police helicopter at Wilson Airport.
A new audit has once again exposed the sorry state of police helicopters at the National Police Service Air Wing, located within Wilson Airport.
The audit of the systems, policies, procedures and practices of the National Police Service (NPS), by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission(EACC), that seeks to, among other things, enhance service delivery and restructure Kenya’s police operations, has returned a shocking verdict.
The police helicopter that crashed in Ngong Forest on June 10, 2012 parked at Wilson Airport, Nairobi.
According to the audit released last week on Thursday, at the National Police Leadership Academy in Nairobi, only two police aircraft out of 11 are functional.
The rest are grounded due to poor maintenance and lack of spare parts.
“The audit established that most of the aircraft in the NPS Air Wing were non-operational. At the time of the audit, out of the Air Wing’s fleet, only two were operational, while the rest were grounded due to poor maintenance and lack of spare parts,” reads part of the audit report.
The audit has revealed that most of the aircraft are mere shells, having been grounded years ago.
“The situation has undermined the effectiveness, cost-efficiency and operational responsiveness of the NPS Air Wing, thereby diminishing its contribution to national security and public safety,” further reads the report.
The NPS Air Wing was established to provide aerial support to the service, facilitate all forms of security-related aerial work by government agencies and facilitate transportation and protection of Very Important Persons.
The unit was conceived as a rapid response outfit in times of emergencies. The functions of the NPS Air Wing include: search and rescue, casualty evacuation, anti-terrorism, crime prevention, air patrols and protection of VIPs.
However, the Nation established that most of the aircraft at the NPS Air Wing are grounded, due to maintenance problems, lack of funding for services and spare parts, ageing fleets and administrative challenges in the service.
In 2017, the police service acquired two choppers — 5Y-RPU and 5Y -TPU AB206 model, taking the police fleet to 11.
Read: Derelict planes and demoralised staff unearth the deep rot at police air unit
However, poor maintenance has left only two choppers operational.
The revelations by the audit report come at a time the National Police Service (NPS) is facing renewed scrutiny, over the airworthiness of its ageing fleet.
In a shocking incident on November 3,a police chopper conducting a landslide rescue mission in Chesongoch, Marakwet East, made a hard landing when its lift reportedly failed as it was taking off.
The new helicopter handed over to the National Police Service on April 27, 2016. The Interior ministry is in the spotlight for buying four police aircrafts without the approval of Parliament. PHOTO | FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP
The Mi-17 helicopter registered as 5Y SFA, was taking part in rescue operations in the landslide-hit region when it appeared to lose lift before bouncing on the ground.
Although no fatalities were reported, video clips of the incident — which quickly went viral on social media — sparked public concerns over the state of the police aviation fleet.
In August, the same aircraft made an emergency landing in Mulot, Bomet County.
Operational police aircraft
The same helicopter had in November 2019 crash-landed after taking off from Wilson Airport.
At the time, it had two police officers on board, but the duo escaped unhurt.
The chopper is among Kenya’s oldest operational police aircraft.
The back-to-back incidents sparked a debate about maintenance standards and operational safety within the NPS Air Wing, especially concerning the Mi-17 series helicopters acquired from Russia in 2017.
Delivered by Russian Helicopters, a subsidiary of Rostec, the Mi-17V-5 utility model was part of a government initiative to modernise police air operations for missions, including search and rescue, troop transport and logistics.
However, with the aircraft now nearing a decade in service, and others at the NPS Air Wing far older, aviation experts warn that prolonged use without full overhaul poses safety risks.
“The government should urgently do an overhaul of police choppers. The safety of police officers and the quality of mechanised transport should not be compromised. Revelations that only two choppers are operational are worrying. Failure to service and properly maintain police aircraft is a looming disaster,” warned Mr David Mwangi, an aviation expert.
A police officer inspects the scene of the crash. The chopper crash-landed in Kaithe, Meru County on Saturday morning.
“Even the two functional choppers are a disaster in waiting,” he added.
In April 2025, the NPS Air Wing was certified by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), as an Approved Aircraft Maintenance Organisation (AMO) — allowing it to independently service and inspect aircraft.
During the certification event, Deputy Inspector-General Eliud Lagat hailed the milestone as a historic achievement, while the Air Wing Commandant, Captain James Kabo, said the unit aimed to become a regional leader in aviation excellence.
However, the recent incidents in Chesongoch and Mulot and the revelations by the audit report have cast doubt on those gains, reviving concerns over the condition of the service’s initially operational helicopters, the majority of which are grounded for mechanical issues.
These were just the latest of a series of mishaps that have been dogging the NPS choppers.
The NPS has a troubled aviation history, with several deadly crashes including Mi-17 (5Y-UKW) in 2009, AS 350 (5Y-CDT) in 2012, Bell 206 (5Y-COP) in 2016 and AW 139 (5Y-NPW) in 2022.
The most notable include: the 2016 crash of a Kenya Police Augusta-AW 139 helicopter in Nairobi that injured three police officers, an August 2018 crash of a newly launched MI-17 helicopter in Boni Forest, and several other minor accidents that raised concerns about operational safety and financial oversight within the service.
The other notable crash was that of the police helicopter that claimed the life of former Internal Security Minister Prof George Saitoti and his deputy Joshua Orwa Ojode on June 10, 2012.
This is one of the most high-profile plane crashes in Kenya's history.
The accident happened shortly after 9am, just 10 minutes after the Eurocopter AS350 took off from Wilson Airport.
A 2023 government review led by Justice (Rtd.) David Maraga urged urgent modernisation of the NPS Air Wing, describing it as “a critical national asset whose operational capacity must not be compromised.”
The NPS Air Wing was returned to police control in 2024 after three years under the KDF-led National Air Support Department (NASD)-a transfer initially made by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2017-to address mismanagement and safety lapses.
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