Investigations now reveal that the aircraft that caused mid air collision with another passenger aircraft leading to the death of two has been involved in other accidents previously.
According to reports, the latest accident caused by the same aircraft which claimed the lives of a trainee pilot and the instructor is one of the three that has been caused by the same aircraft.
The aircraft, a Cessna 172M, serial number 172-65726, is operated by Ninety Nines Flying School and registered on August 2, 2018. The plane was manufactured in 1976 and it is part of the fleet used in training pilots at the flying school.
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Prior to Tuesday’s incident, the Cessna 172 had been involved in what aircraft accident investigation department termed as a serious incident.
A report from the investigation department indicates that at the beginning of 2021 January, the aircraft while undertaking a training flight failed to properly land at Wilson airport.
The report further indicates that the pilot in training, with 88 hours of flight under their belt, had been cleared to undertake a solo flight and had successfully executed the first of three touch and go flights when trouble struck.
The findings additionally show that while coming in for the second landing on runway 7 at Wilson, the aircraft bounced and lifted into the air .
The student behind the controls attempted to land once more, but upon flaring to land the aircraft bounced and the nose wheel of the craft hit the ground, occasioning damage to the aircraft.
Three months earlier in October 2020, the same plane had also had trouble while taking off from Wilson for a training cross country flight that would have seen the trainee pilot and the trainer fly to Narok and back.
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The flight however ran into trouble upon take off, with strange noises heard coming from the propeller. The student trainee, with an experience of 128 flying hours attempted to land the plane back at Wilson but it went over the edge of the runway and landed in the grassy areas next to the runway.
In all the incidents, recommendations were issued by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Department on the same aircraft that caused mid air collision which as they now claim were not taken seriously leading to the fatal one on Tuesday.