Kenya: CS Davis Chirchir Sets Up Team to Investigate Kenyan Aircraft Crashes in Somalia and South Sudan

Firefighter at the scene where a plane crash landed in Mogadishu on Monday, July 18, 2022 (Twitter / Asmali)

The Cabinet Secretary of Roads and Transport, Davis Chirchir, has set up a special team to investigate accidents involving Kenyan aircraft in Somalia and South Sudan.

CS Chirchir gazetted the Aircraft Accident Investigation Team through a notice dated April 24, invoking powers under Section 53(4) of the Civil Aviation Act, Cap. 394.

“IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by section 53 (4) of the Civil Aviation Act, the Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport establishes the Aircraft Accident Investigation Team,” declared the notice.

Among those appointed are Captain Peter Maranga, who will chair the team, with Fredrick Kabunge serving as Co-Chairperson and Engineer Fredrick Aggrey Opot as Vice-Chairperson, bringing together experienced aviation professionals from both the Kenyan Military and the engineering sector to lead the probe.

The team's membership also includes Captain Nduati Herman Njama, Retired Lieutenant Colonel Mike Mulwa, Ephantus Kamau, Captain Valentine Wendoh, and James Mwangi, with Brenda Mwango, Mathias Ombasa, and Albert Mwangeka serving as Joint Secretaries.

As per the notice, the team's core mandate is to review all preliminary accident reports for the last five years, specifically covering accidents involving Kenyan-registered or operated aircraft submitted by South Sudan and Somalia.

Beyond reviewing reports, the team is empowered to investigate related matters, examine data and materials, and conduct interviews with aviation industry players to establish facts and prevent future accidents.

The team may also co-opt additional experts as needed to assist in discharging its mandate, ensuring that no technical or investigative gap is left unaddressed in the course of its work.

Summary Of Kenyan Plane Crashes in Somalia and South Sudan 

Formation of the team comes at the back of deadly crashes, with the most recent being an incident in March 2025 where a Kenyan-registered DHC-5D Buffalo aircraft, registration 5Y-RBA, operated by Trident Aviation Ltd, crashed near Mogadishu.

The plane was returning from Dhobley, Somalia, when it went down approximately 24 kilometers southwest of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing all five Kenyan crew members on board in what remains one of the deadliest recent incidents.

Back in May 2020, an African Express twin-engine aircraft carrying medical supplies was reportedly shot down by a projectile as it approached Bardale airstrip, allegedly by the Al-Shabaab Militia group, a base then used by Ethiopian military forces under the African Union(AU) mission.

Additionally, on February 10 this year, a Skyward Express Dash 8, registration 5Y-GRS, crash-landed at a military base in Elwak, Somalia. Despite the landing gear collapsing on impact, all 37 passengers and three crew members miraculously escaped with only minor injuries.

In a separate incident, a Jubba Airways Fokker 50, registration 5Y-JXN, also flipped over upon landing at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu on July 18, 2022, though everyone on board survived, a far more catastrophic outcome.

On the other hand, in South Sudan, a cargo plane carrying food aid for charity Samaritan's Purse crashed in Unity State on November 25, 2025, killing all three crew members aboard, including a Kenyan national.

Likewise, a prominent Kenyan pilot, Captain Michael George Oluoch Nyamodi, narrowly escaped the wider crisis when his Boeing 727 was struck by a Sudanese military airstrike at Nyala Airport on May 3, 2025, in an area then held by the Rapid Support Forces.

The earliest recorded incident under review is the November 4, 2015, crash of an Antonov An-12 cargo aircraft shortly after takeoff from Juba International Airport in South Sudan, which claimed at least 37 lives.

The notice gives CS Chirchir's team two months from the gazette date to compile a comprehensive report, which will be submitted to the Cabinet Secretary alongside safety recommendations for Kenya's aviation industry.

Source: https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/122917-cs-davis-chirchir-sets-team-investigate-kenyan-aircraft-crashes-somalia-and-south-sudan