Body of co-pilot in Tanzania plane crash set to arrive in Nairobi

The body of the first officer, co-pilot Peter Omondi, is expected to arrive in Nairobi on Tuesday (November 8) night. He is among the two confirmed deaths after a plane carrying 43 people plunged into Lake Victoria in Tanzania before it was due to land in Bukoba.

The ill-fated plane was flying from Dar es Salaam through Bukoba to Mwanza with 43 passengers and crew on board when it crashed near the shore at the end of the Bukoba airport runway. Twenty-four passengers survived out of the 43 people aboard.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, Peter Omondi’s family representative, Muchuki Mwangi said they have the body of their kin and are ready for the repatriation journey.

“It has been a tough day for the family, we are just about to board the plane to Nairobi as the burial arrangement continues. We expect to land in Nairobi tonight. We have had immense support from the Kenyan, Tanzanian government and Precision Air,” he said.

Ambassador Isaac Njenga also confirmed a Kenyan survived the crash and has been receiving treatment. Mr Njenga noted that the family of the copilot has collected the body and they are working on repatriation.

“Everyone has been accounted for and I can confirm that Kenya lost two of its citizens in the plane crash we also have one Kenyan survivor who continues to receive treatment. One of the dead Kenyans is the first officer, co-pilot and the other Kenyan is a lady,” he said.

Precision Air, which is partly owned by Kenya Airways, was founded in 1993 and operates domestic and regional flights as well as private charters to popular tourist destinations.

The accident comes five years after 11 people died when a plane belonging to safari company Coastal Aviation crashed in northern Tanzania.

In 2007, a Kenya Airways flight from the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan to Kenya's capital Nairobi crashed into a swamp after take-off, killing all 114 passengers. In March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi plunged six minutes after take-off into a field southeast of the Ethiopian capital, killing all 157 people on board.

In 2000 another Kenya Airways flight from Abidjan to Nairobi crashed into the Atlantic Ocean minutes after take-off, killing 169 people while 10 survived.