Investigations begin into Lake Nakuru chopper crash

The State Department for Transport through the Aircraft Accident Investigation Division (AAID) has begun investigations into the cause of Saturday’s (October 21) chopper crash at Lake Nakuru.

AIDD chief investigator Martyn Lunani on Tuesday (October 24) said the body believed to be that of Captain Apollo Malowa, the pilot of the ill-fated helicopter, was ferried to Umash Funeral Home in Nairobi awaiting toxicology investigations.

“Initial stages of the investigations will zero in on perishable evidence. Other probes will include but not limited to aircraft licensing, training of the pilot and history of the aircraft company,” said Lunani.

However, the investigation team says that crucial information relating to the aircraft’s take-off and other technical aspects can only be known once the recorders that are usually fitted to the cockpit are retrieved and decoded.

So far, only two bodies of the five occupants of the chopper have been positively identified four days after the incident.

The bodies, which were found intact, were those of pilot Malowa and Anthony Kipyegon.

At the moment, only some parts of the helicopter’s wreckage have been retrieved from the murky waters of the expansive lake.