NTV investigative journalist Dennis Okari revealed that he had interacted with passengers of the ill-fated Silverstone Air plane that crashed early Friday, October 11, moments after taking off from the Wilson Airport in Nairobi.
Okari disclosed via his Twitter page that he had experienced the rough patches and potholes on the runway at Wilson airport while aboard another plane.
The journalist mentioned that he was booked into an Eldoret-bound flight operated by the same airline when he met passengers of the ill-fated aircraft.
"I was on board Silverstone Air in the morning at 7:15 am to Eldoret and met some of the passengers on that flight to Mombasa. The runway was very wet but what struck me was the potholes. Our pilot was literally dodging them as we taxied. We hit two of them hard," Okari narrated.
He also posted a picture of himself holding what appeared to be an airline-branded complimentary.
The Mombasa-Lamu-bound plane crash-landed at a Nairobi National Park shortly after taking off from the Wilson Airport on Friday, October 11.
The plane registered under number 5Y-1ZO and operated by Silverstone Air "developed some technical hitch while taking off" according to the Kenya Red Cross.
The first responders were officers from Kenya Red Cross and aviation officers based at Wilson Airport who found the plane near the Nairobi National park.
Silverstone Airlines reported in a press statement that all its 55 passengers on board were safe and that there were no fatalities.
"We can confrim that our Fokker 50, 5Y-IZO, had an incident while taking off at 9:00 a.m. The passengers and crew have been safely disembarked and we are currently working with the relevant authorities to assess the situation," the statement read.
Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) in a tweet reported that two passengers were slightly injured and that the Aircraft Accident Investigations Directorate under the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Urban Development was carrying out investigations to establish the cause of the accident.
