A Kenyan plane owned by Bluebird Aviation crash-landed in Beletwein, Somalia on Tuesday, July 14 after trying to avoid hitting a donkey on the runway.
The Dash 8-400 PF plane manufactured in Australia, registered under number 5Y-VVU had three crew members on board who suffered minor injuries from the crash.
The airline’s General Manager Captain Hussein Mohamed detailed events leading to the crash
“One of our aircraft has crashed in Somalia, it was carrying food for the AMISOM troops in Beletwein, Somalia where the Djibouti troops are based.
“The plane was from Djibouti earlier this morning and upon landing a donkey crossed the runway, they hit the donkey and swerved off to a trench on the side of the runway but the crew are perfectly okay,” he explained.
Mohamed noted that the three crew members who were aboard the aircraft were checked into a field hospital operated by the Djibouti troops.
He also confirmed that a United Nations helicopter had been sent from Mogadishu, Somalia to airlift them from Beletwein back to the capital.
The aircraft joins a list of Kenyan plans that have crashed in Somalia in the last three months with the first being reported back on Monday, May 4.
Bluebird Aviation Limited is a locally registered Kenyan air charter company based at Wilson Airport, Nairobi and incorporated in 1992.
The plane belonged to African Express and crashed near Bardale Town in Somalia leaving all six people on board dead.
Another Kenyan plane has suffered an air accident after crash-landing in Bardere, Gedo region in Somalia on Sunday, July 5, after a tyre burst.
On Monday, May 25 a Kenyan plane, registration number 5Y-VVA, was fired upon by unknown individuals in Qansahdere, Bay Region in Somalia but managed to land safely.
