Its been a while since I wrote, part of this is due to a very busy schedule with family and also working and flying hard. I can't complain, as a matter of fact it's so exciting to get a calls, gear up and go flying!
We got a call about 4 pm one afternoon that an aircraft had gone down about 40 miles W of Nairobi. Everett Aviation is the official Search and Rescue(S&R) helicopter service for the Civil Aviation and Accident investigation dept here in Kenya. I went with another pilot who is NVG(Night Vision Goggles) qualified as we would be returning in the night. On a night with no celestial illumination in rural areas, even a clear night is truly IFR with no horizon at all! It was important to take the precaution.
After the investigators arrived, we took off and headed in the direction of the accident. I had never been to anything like this and my mind was running amok with what to expect. Reports said that it was a Cessna 210 enroute to a town west of Nairobi pilot with 3 passengers. This is a relatively well equipped aircraft with autopilot and quite capable of dealing with weather as it is instrument flight rules rated. There was heavy speculation on what had gone wrong though none of the investigators had been on the scene yet. There were no survivors reported.
Kenya is well endowed with a rich variety of landscapes. Our country has high snow covered peaks, white sandy beaches of the Indian Ocean as well as the Great rift valley with sheer walls that drop down hundreds of feet. We were headed for one of these mighty rift valley walls called the Mau Escarpment. Nairobi sits at 5500ft and we had to climb to 10000ft to clear the escarpment! After a couple of orbits we found the wreckage on the side of a hill. Finding a suitable landing area was quite tricky in such a hilly, forested area not to mention the high altitude. I made an approach to a road on top of the hill and as soon as we landed, here came the lookie loos!
The mood was sombre, as the investigators headed down the steep slippery slope down to the wreckage... I was standing on top of this majestic hill looking down below in the distance, I could see large portions of what appeared to be the wings of the C210 stuck in between two tall eucalyptus trees(the plane passed in between them). Then I saw the house built on the hillside with a portion of its roof torn off. Then finally I saw the tail of the aircraft sticking out of the side of the hill. Indeed there were no survivors, the pilot, a very high profile Minister in Kenya government and Assistant Minister and a body guard.
As night was falling, it was getting more difficult for the investigators to do their work therefore they decided to call it a night and return the following morning. Our flight was quiet and uneventful. I couldn't hide my amazement at how cool NVGs are... you can actually see at night!! When we landed, the media were upon us especially because the passengers were very high profile government officials. There was a group of mourners outside the office wailing and demanding answers. The bitter truth was that there was nothing anyone could do, there were no answers, it was over.
I had to sleep that night because I had an early morning but it was difficult. I couldn't spend the night seeing images and thinking about what could have happened. Life had to continue, the sun would surely rise the next day whether we were there to see it or not.
A long time ago when I started flying in Rialto, I spoke to a Mercy Air EMS pilot about what its like to arrive at a "bad" scene. He told me - "you must fly the aircraft or you will become a scene too" He said that a pilot had to detach from all the hysterics of mourners, nurses, paramedics, children clinging to life, ugly accidents, badgering reporters, heroics and anything that goes through a persons brain when faced with these naturally alarming situations. I knew he was speaking from experience but at the time I couldn't understand. As he turned and walked away I could almost hear the sounds robocop makes when he walks.
Years have passed and now I am faced with a "scene". I now understand what that EMS pilot was talking about. I can also say I learned a great deal about flying and about life from this "scene". Investigations are still underway to find out what caused the accident, there are many explanations and speculations but I won't get into that. I will let you know what the findings are when they release the report.
My condolences go to the family and friends of the four on board the aircraft. May they Rest in Peace.
On Standby at the Port of Mombasa.
The media.
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