On 5th March, two planes, a Cessna Plane and a Dash 8 Plane collided in a mid air crash above the Nairobi National Park. The accident that occurred at around 0900hrs involved a training aircraft and a commercial aircraft.
The commercial aircraft belonging to Safarilink that had 44 members onboard returned safely to Wilson Airport with all unharmed.
However, the same could not be said about the Cessna operated by Ninety Nines Flying School. The pilot trainee and student pilot unfortunately lost their lives.
The student aviation community at Wilson Airport have lost a promising student identified as Mariam Omar. Her bright star was cut short in the tragic mid-air collision while she was undergoing training.
Ninety Nines Flying School also lost her flight instructor, Newborn Omote. The KCAA-regulated institution announced that the lady will be laid to rest on Wednesday 6th March.
Burial prayers would be conducted at the Masjid Nur in Nairobi’s South C estate. Mariam Omar was eulogised as a bubbly and cheerful young lady who always put on a smile.
“Burial will be held at Langata Muslim cemetery after prayers. We are lucky to have experienced your one-of-a-kind personality,” the school wrote.
Deaths reported after planes collide in Nairobi
At the time of publishing, it is yet to be established what caused the mid-air collision or who was in control of the Cessna aircraft. Insiders shared that KCAA would conduct a deep analysis of the voice recorder and piece together everything that took place.
Aviation experts wondered why the planes were flying close to each other and whether they adhered to protocols. They argued that one of the two planes ignored ATC instructions or did not receive them in time.
They also questioned what led to the Cessna plane for training pilots to fly around commercial routes which is a rare phenomenon.