A small aircraft carrying foreign tourists and a pilot crashed and burst into flames shortly after take-off from Kenya’s coast on Tuesday morning, resulting in 11 confirmed fatalities.
The plane, operated by Mombasa Air Safari, was traveling from Diani to the Maasai Mara National Park when it crashed approximately 40 kilometers from the departure airstrip. The crash occurred around 5:30 a.m. local time (0230 GMT).
The destination, Maasai Mara National Park, is one of Kenya’s most popular tourist attractions, famed for the annual wildebeest migration, making air transport a vital part of the tourism economy.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) confirmed that the aircraft had 11 persons on board and that there were no survivors. The victims included eight Hungarians, two Germans, and one Kenyan pilot, according to the operator.
This incident marks the third major air crash in Kenya in recent months, following a crash in Kiambu County in August and another near Naivasha in January.
The frequency of these accidents raises concerns regarding the safety and oversight of Kenya’s domestic aviation industry, particularly the small aircraft chartered for tourism. Investigators are currently examining the wreckage, which was completely burned, to determine the cause of the disaster.
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