On Thursday, June 24, a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) helicopter crashed and burst into flames at Ol Tepesi area in Ngong, Kajiado County.
KDF stated that the Mi-171E Air Force chopper was on a training mission. 10 soldiers unfortunately died and 13 others incurred critical injuries.
According to US Homeland Security, the Mi-171E multipurpose helicopter is produced by Russian company Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant and developed by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant.
Mi-171E is made of high-strength aluminium metal and has a five-bladed main rotor and a three-bladed tail rotor.
It is powered by two enhanced VK-2500-03 engines which use up to 2,400 hp (horsepower) take-off power and 2,700hp contingency power. It flies up to a maximum speed of 250km/h.
The KDF plane’s cabin is designed to carry up to 30 passengers and can be adjusted to create room for cargo. Inside, it has a state of the art air-conditioning system, leather-wrapped armchairs and sound insulators.
It can be used for patrolling, forest fire-fighting, medical assistance, search-and-rescue (SAR) missions and disaster response.
For SAR missions, the plane is fitted with searchlight, rappelling equipment, loudspeaker station, heli-bucket and radiolocation systems.
It also has a ground proximity warning system (GPWS) which notifies the crew of collisions and objects in the vicinity.
The chopper is capable of flying in adverse weather conditions and can be flown during nighttime special and covert operations. It has night vision goggles which boost its navigation equipment.
Mi-171E also has an auxiliary power plant, upgraded transmissions, and internal fuel tanks. One plane costs approximately Ksh1.2 billion.
