DP Ruto’s pilot: Deputy President William Ruto’s pilot, Captain Mario Magonga, has died in a chopper crash in Turkana County.
DP Ruto’s pilot died with all the four Americans he was flying after their chopper crashed at Lobolo in Central Island National Park at 8pm yesterday..
“Available information indicates that two helicopters had landed earlier at Lobolo tented Camp on the National Park’s Island, however one managed to clear the area safely,” the National Police Service said in a statement.
“Security personnel dispatched to the scene confirmed that among the five were four Americans and the Kenyan pilot.”
The police also said that the cause of the crash is yet to be established and the details of the deceased will be released once the next of kin have been notified.
Emergency reports indicate that the chopper Captain Magonga was flying went off radar near Lake Turkana.
It’s wreckage and the bodies of the deceased were discovered sometime at around 2am.
Captain Magonga was working with KIDL Helicopters which is based at Wilson Airport in the capital Nairobi. KIDL Helicopters , which he joined in March 2017, describes him as “Chief Pilot, (ATP) and a qualified helicopter Instructor trained in the Kenya Defence Forces. He has accumulated over 5500hrs experience on single and multi-engine types,” his brief profile reads.
Captain Magonga also worked for Tropic Air Kenya until June 2015, when he left to pursue his flying career.
“An exceptional helicopter pilot, Mario has also been the source of strength, laughter and spirit, both in the office and in the air, and we will miss him,” Tropic Air says in a June 23, 2015 Facebook post.
