The identity of a pilot who died in a plane crash in Nanyuki, Laikipia County on Thursday evening, February 11, has been revealed.
Laikipia Woman Representative Cate Waruguru posted Ian Lamaiyan's photos and eulogised him as a charming, social and hardworking man from Laikipia North.
"He was mostly around our great cosmopolitan Nanyuki town interacting with people of different status, race and tribe," Waruguru eulogised.
The MP stated that she would visit relevant authorities from the Ministry of Wildlife and Tourism to raise the question of safety among pilots working in the KWS.
"In less than 3 months we have lost two of our sons or brothers from Laikipia working with Kenya Wildlife Service...We cannot afford to lose another son. It's too costly yet painful to train one pilot and then lose him/her at that young age," Waruguru stated.
The aircraft Lamaiyan was steering - a Husky aircraft, registration number 5Y-KWL - is said to have developed complications minutes after takeoff.
"The pilot had just completed a routine patrol at Solio Rhino Sanctuary and was travelling to Meru National Park,” read a statement from KWS.
KWS staff and rescue team rushed to the scene for an evacuation operation but ended up ferrying the bodies of the two people in the airplane to a nearby morgue.
The Wildlife Service has since said that investigations have commenced and will be led by a multi-agency team of officers from the Air Accident Investigation Department.
They will be supported by the Ministry of Transport, National Police Service and National Air Support Department.
