FlySax Introduces Changes on Kitale Route After Plane Crash

FlySax airline on Thursday resumed flights between Nairobi and Kitale after suspending its operations along the route following a plane crash.

The Fly540 subsidiary has bounced back after the tragic air crash on June 5 in the Aberdares claimed 10 lives including those of two crew members.

The company made its resumption flight from Wilson Airport deploying a larger, twin-engine DASH 100 Bombardier aircraft to service the route.

[caption caption="Captain Frederick Mbisa, Captain Akshai Patel and cabin operator Judy Mwatha"][/caption]

The twin-engine aircraft that also made a return flight from Kitale airport has a passenger capacity of 37 compared to the ill-fated 12-seater Cessna Caravan.

Besides, the new aircraft designated for the route will be completing the trip in 50 minutes compared to the crashed Cessna C208 which covered the trip in 75 minutes.

Captain Akshai Patel (28) and Captain Frederick Mbisa (35) alongside cabin operator Judy Mwatha (28) were manning the new flight.

"We continue to do what they (the late crew members) would undoubtedly have liked us do, and that continues flying," Patel stated.

The crashed plane was under the command of Captain Barbra Wangeci Kamau and First Officer Jean Mureithi when it crashed on the rocky Elephant Hill peak terrain and disintegrated on impact.

Poor weather conditions hampered search and rescue efforts and the wreckage was finally traced by an aerial team where a ground team later confirmed everyone onboard had perished in the unfortunate incident.

[caption caption="The Cessna C208"][/caption]

Bomb experts who combed the crash scene have ruled out the possibility of a bombing with communication breakdown between the cabin crew and the control towers blamed given the plane was flying low for the mountainous terrain.

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