2006 Kenyan Air Force Harbin Y-12 crash

Investigation

Shortly after the accident, a body of inquiry was established. The accident was investigated by the Kenyan Air Force, joined by representatives of the Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation, as they were the manufacturer of the aircraft involved. Chief of the General Staff, Jeremiah Kianga, was tasked with leading the investigation. Detectives of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), headed by Iregi Ngatia, also joined the investigation. The CID planned on visiting the scene of the crash and interview witnesses. Investigators placed a 2 km exclusion zone around the wreckage. By 13 April, it was reported that the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and parts of the wreckage had been retrieved. The Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation ordered that other similar aircraft should not fly until the cause of the accident was determined.

Shortly after the accident, government spokesman Alfred Mutua said that initial findings considered bad weather to be the cause of the crash, stating that, "Initial investigative reports of the Marsabit air crash indicate that the Y-12 military airplane may have crashed due to poor visibility caused by bad weather." Some officials stated that bad weather conditions and low visibility may have caused the accident. At the time of the accident, heavy fog was present as the aircraft approached the runway. Eyewitnesses told local media that heavy rain was present at the time of the crash. Speaking to Agence France-Presse, Marsabit district commissioner Mutea Iringo stated that the pilots "lost direction of the airstrip because of foggy weather and then crash landed on a hill about three kilometres from Marsabit town." The survivors said that the weather conditions and location of the airstrip were the main causes of the accident. The Nairobi ATC stated that the crew had not reported any problems during the daylight flight to Marsabit. Speaking to The Standard, an investigator stated that "The pilots were unable to see ahead because it was foggy and it was raining. This caused the crash not any other thing."

According to a The Standard article published on 11 April, three hours into the flight, the co-pilot, Captain Joseph Njogu Muriithi, contacted Moi Air Base's air traffic control (ATC), telling them that he had heard a bang on the rear side of the aircraft, adding that he could not ascertain what was happening. No further communication between Moi Air Base's ATC and the pilots were established. In addition, The Standard also claimed that government sources had speculated that the flight could have either been shot down or been struck by an object. In response to the article, Mutua clarified that "the pilot of the aircraft never reported any mechanical failure to any control tower, and all initial investigations indicate the crash was caused by bad weather" and characterized reports of the aircraft being shot down or struck by an object as "[w]ild and reckless reporting".

On 12 April, it was reported that a preliminary report had been compiled by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere stated on 11 April that "The report basically points to the weather as the probable cause." By 14 April, it was reported that investigators had flown the wreckage of the aircraft to Nairobi for further analysis. Investigators, whose main interest was the black box, also left Marsabit after questioning witnesses to the crash and had scheduled to talk to the survivors. Although officials had yet to conclude the investigations, according to The Standard, preliminary investigations indicated that poor visibility caused the plane to crash. By 22 April, preliminary findings did not lend credence to a mechanical issue involving the aircraft. It was reported that investigators were pursuing pilot error as the cause of the accident. A division of the investigation focused on the pilots' social life, state of health, and the circumstances involving both pilots preceding the flight. Flight regulations maintained that pilots should not attempt to land at airports if the runway is not visible within 200 ft above the ground. A pilot who had flown to Marsabit, talking to The Daily Nation, said that the absence of an instrument landing system (ILS), among other reliable navigational equipment, along with the aircraft not being capable of attempting a landing in "zero visibility", should have all been indications to not attempt an approach to Marsabit airstrip. Another pilot stated that the pilot should not have attempted to land, stating, "Pilot error is a most likely pointer."

Conclusions

Although Njenga Karume had promised to release a report on the crash, he told the Parliament of Kenya that the final report was classified as "confidential" as the aircraft belonged to the Kenya Defence Forces. The crash was blamed on bad weather. The number of deaths and injuries was the result of "the lack of rescue equipment and facilities and inadequately trained persons and teams for rapid response to such disasters" resulting in the deaths and injuries of the occupants.

The report established that: