NAIROBI, Kenya (BN24) — Six people were killed and at least two others injured Wednesday afternoon when a light aircraft operated by AMREF Flying Doctors crashed in a densely populated residential area of Mwihoko in Kiambu County, just outside Nairobi, Kenya.
The Cessna Citation XLS jet, registration 5Y-FDM, had departed Wilson Airport in Nairobi at 2:17 p.m. and was en route to Hargeisa, Somalia, when it lost both radio and radar contact with air traffic control just three minutes after takeoff. The aircraft went down under still-unclear circumstances, slamming into a neighborhood in Githurai, near the capital, and bursting into flames.
Authorities said the aircraft was carrying four medical personnel — two doctors and two nurses — who were all killed in the crash. Two civilians on the ground also died when the plane struck the residential structure. Two additional individuals suffered serious injuries and were transported to area hospitals for emergency treatment.
AMREF Flying Doctors, a leading medical charity that provides emergency air evacuations across Africa, confirmed the aircraft was on a humanitarian mission when it crashed. In a statement, CEO Stephen Gitau said the organization is fully cooperating with aviation authorities and emergency teams to uncover what led to the fatal crash.
“At this time, we are cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation,” Gitau said.
Eyewitnesses described a terrifying scene. Patricia Kombo, who was traveling in a taxi with friends near the crash site, told the BBC they were approaching Githurai when a sudden explosion lit up the sky.
“There was a red flash and then it was gone — followed by heavy smoke. People were screaming and running. We stopped our trip and soon saw the crater the plane had created in the ground,” Kombo said.
Emergency responders from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), the National Police Service, and fire departments swiftly cordoned off the area, launching search and recovery operations in the debris. The charred wreckage of the plane was visible amid the rubble of damaged homes.
Kiambu County Commissioner Henry Wafula confirmed the fatalities and said an aviation investigation team had been dispatched to determine the cause of the crash. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) reported that contact with the plane had been lost within minutes of its departure, raising questions about potential mechanical failure or other flight anomalies.
The crash comes amid heightened scrutiny of aviation safety in Kenya, particularly involving humanitarian and chartered flights that frequently operate in remote or unstable regions across East Africa.
This tragedy marks one of the deadliest crashes involving a medical evacuation flight in recent Kenyan history and has cast a shadow over AMREF’s long-standing operations in the region.
