Duale gives update on General Ogolla’s chopper crash probe
Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has provided the status update on the investigation of the late General Francis Ogolla’s chopper crash investigations.
Speaking at a local TV station on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, Duale first revealed that the investigation is led by a team of very skilled experts drawn from the Kenya Air Force and other military services.
To get to the bottom of the matter, the former Garissa Township Member of Parliament pointed out that KDF officers leading the inquiry have scaled up the probe by engaging the manufacturer of the ill-fated plane.
The Manufacturer
The aircraft that Ogolla used was called Bell UH-1 Iroquois alias known as Bell Huey II, which was designed for the deployment of versatile missions. Ogolla was in the chopper with 11 military officers and only two survived when it went down in West Pokot on April 18, 2024.
The plane was manufactured by Bell Textron Inc. company based in the US.
“Our investigation and inquiry is going on done by a very competent team of Airforce and other officers from other services. We are engaging and upscaling that up to the manufacturer Bell of the US because they also have an interest,” Duale stated.
KDF takes parts to US
According to Duale, the parts of the ill-fated chopper have been flown to the US where the manufacturers are collaborating with KDF officials to establish what was the real cause of the crash.
“Our teams are now in the US where they have gone with all the parts and once all that information is collected and a recommendation is given to us we will tell the country if it was mechanical or anything else,” Duale insisted.
However, the Defence Cabinet Secretary did not give the exact timeline for when the report will be made public. Nonetheless, he assured Kenyans that the report would bring closure on the cause of the accident.
“I can tell you without contradiction that we will avail a very detailed report,” he asserted while revealing that the ill-fated chopper was among the most sophisticated in KDF with the capability of flying at night.
Duale added that he used the chopper 15 times and was also used by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki during different operations in the country.
Japhet Koome also used the ill-fated chopper during various high risk operations.
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