News

Newly Acquired Kenyan Police Helicopter Crashes Leaving 4 Injured During Test Flight

Published

8 years ago

September 9, 2016

It was a moment of shock as a police chopper worth over Sh680 million crashed Thursday evening, leaving four police officers on board seriously injured. The chopper was overflying Mathare slums when it crashed within the National Youth Service field at about 4pm.

The chopper which was unveiled in April this year at the National Police Service Airwing was badly damaged. Police said the four officers on board were on routine patrols in the city when the incident happened. Officials said there were three officers and an engineer from the manufacturing company – Augusta Westlands, an Italian Company. Those at the scene said the pilot tried to make a hard landing on the field when it went down headfirst before landing on its back.

The crashed chopper had a capacity of 15 passengers and could take off and land on autopilot. The Augusta Westlands, an Italian Company was paid Sh683 million in the 2014/2015 financial year for the helicopter that can cruise up to 300kph. This is the second police chopper to crash in less than a month. On August 22, a Bell type chopper crashed within Wilson Airport on injuring two including an instructor.