Man Who Refused to Board Ill-Fated Fly SAX Aircraft Says He Warned Pilots of Bad Weather

A man who refused to board the ill-fated Fly SAX aircraft that crashed in the Aberdares on Tuesday killing 10 people says he warned pilots of the bad weather.

Peter Wekhomba Mwangale from Webuye town, Trans-Nzoia county says he declined to board the plane citing poor weather as it was raining heavily and foggy at the time of departure.

He said he told himself that the weather was likely to be worse in Eldoret, Timboroa and Longonot and asked the crew to return his luggage, which had already been loaded in the plane. The plane's crew returned his bag and the flight took off from the Kitale Airstrip to Nairobi. 

 "It was raining heavily and Kitale town was very foggy. My instinct relayed to me information that Eldoret, Burnt Forest, Timboroa and Longonot could be worse,” he narrated. 

“I told the crew that I was not boarding the plane and they decided to hand back my luggage only to be told after an hour that the plane had disappeared," Wekhomba said.

 Wekhomba, a brother to former powerful Minister the late Elijah Mwangale, called his son, who was waiting for him in Nairobi, and informed him he had cancelled the trip.

"I was the first passenger. But something told me not to board. I was already on the staircase when I decided against flying," Wekhomba told the Star.

He says an umbrella he was using to shield himself against the downpour was ripped away by the strong winds.

"I resisted their attempts to convince me to proceed with the journey. They gave up and asked a police officer to help me carry away my luggage," he said and regretted that the crew failed to listen to his advise not to fly.

 "It was God’s grace that I escaped the tragedy," Wekhomba said as he received news of the wreckage.

Wekhoma, who is a farmer, said he was a frequent traveller with the aircraft and sensed it would not survive the turbulent weather of the day.

"No pilot bothered to assure passengers that the journey would be smooth. With my experience from previous trips, I knew there would be problems," Wekhomba said.

None of the eight passengers and two crew members survived in the crash.