2 Dead As Aircraft Full Of Passengers Turns Back To Wilson Airport After 'Loud Bang' Midair

A passenger aircraft belonging to Safarilink Aviation was forced to turn and land back at Wilson Airport in Nairobi following a mid-air incident shortly after taking off.

Safarilink in a statement revealed that one of its passenger planes with 39 passengers and five crew onboard was headed to Diani, Kwale County when it experienced a loud bang soon after take-off on Tuesday morning, March 5 at 9.45 am.

"The crew decided to immediately turn back to Nairobi-Wilson Airport for further inspection and assessment and landed safely.

"There were no casualties reported," stated the regional airline with regards to the aircraft, a De Havilland Canada Dash 8 registration number 5YSLK.

Scene following an airplane crash on March 5, 2024. /KINYAN BOY

The relevant agencies have since been notified and together with Safarilink Aviation are investigating this incident.

"We will provide an update once we have more information," added the statement.

Salim Bakari, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) communications manager, told Viral Tea that its technical team was establishing the details surrounding the aircraft accident.

"Kenya Civil Aviation Authority wishes to confirm that an aircraft accident occurred at 10:05hrs involving a Cessna aircraft belonging to Ninety-Nines Flying School and a Dash 8 belonging to Safarilink Aviation Limited," the Authority stated in a subsequent statement.

"Investigations have commenced through various agencies led by the Air Accident Investigation Department (AAID) and the National Police Service to establish the cause of the accident."

Initial reports had indicated that the two airplanes had collided within Nairobi Airspace with one of the planes crash-landing in Nairobi National Park.

Reports reaching our newsdesk indicate that at least two people died in the morning incident which involved a Cessna plane.

The Cessna registration number 5YNNJ had two people on board and was in a training session when the incident happened, according to police.

The light aircraft crashed at the park while the Dash 8 managed to land back at Wilson Airport.

Wilson Airport is considered one of the busiest airports in terms of aircraft movement in East and Central Africa and serves domestic and international traffic.

It is used mostly by general aviation traffic. Industries that use Wilson Airport extensively include tourism, health care and agriculture.

Wilson Airport averages traffic of around 120,000 landings and take-offs annually.