An aircraft had left Mwanza for a flight of just under 300 nautical miles, according to information sourced from aviation personnel at Kilimanjaro International Airport, at 1925 hours local East African time and was due to arrive in Nairobi at 2035 hours local East African time. But then the plane went missing.
A converted Fokker 27-500, operating as a cargo plane, crashed yesterday evening for yet to be determined reasons, while en route from Mwanza, Tanzania’s lake side city, to Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
The aircraft, registered with the Kenya Civil Aviation as 5Y-SXP and MSN 10681, made its first flight in 1985. Previous registrations according to an aviation search, were given as OE-ILW, N505AW, N245MA and PH-EXN.
When air traffic control failed to restore contact with the plane after some 20 minutes into the flight, it was eventually declared missing and both the Tanzanian and Kenyan authorities began a search mission to find either the plane or the wreckage.
The crash site has since been found and is located near a place by the name of Kogatende, inside Tanzanian territory but all three on board have been confirmed dead on impact.
Tanzania is now launching and air accident investigation, supported by the Kenya Civil Aviation and the outcome will in due course hopefully provide answers what went so wrong with this flight.
The aircraft was owned by 19th Hole Inc. and operated by Safari Express Cargo Ltd. of Nairobi, Kenya.
