The worrying trend of crashing police helicopters is an indication of the poor training of Kenya Police Air Wing pilots in recent times, after the retirement of most of an earlier generation of pilots.
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On the afternoon of August 23, 2016, a Kenya Police Air Wing Bell 206L-4 Long Ranger helicopter, registration number 5Y-COP CN: 52367, N2664B, crashed at Wilson Airport at about 1pm while on a training flight with an instructor and a student. No explanation has been given for the crash that completely destroyed the helicopter, which had been purchased in 2008.
Sixteen days later, on September 8, 2016, yet another Kenya Police Air Wing AgustaWestland helicopter, AW139 C/N 31717, dropped from the sky. This time it was over the National Youth Service grounds in the city's Ruaraka area on a training flight with four people on board – including a manufacturer's technician, because the chopper was still under warranty.
Aviation experts who saw the video clip of the AgustaWestland helicopter opine that as it hovered, it created what is commonly referred to in the industry as a vortex, which sucked it to the ground.
This brings us to the question of the quality and training of those trained at the Kenya Police Air Wing at Wilson.
First, the recruitment of police pilots is shrouded in the same mystery and corruption allegations that plague the general police national recruitment exercise conducted annually.
Rarely do we see advertisements for recruitment of pilots in the police, as was the norm sometime back.
Five police helicopters have crashed and been declared unserviceable since 2009. This includes the mi-17 hip, registration number 5Y-UKW, on May 11 2009 in Kapsabet; the Bell, 4065Y-RDU, on December 30, 2013; and the Eurocopter Ecureuil, AS350B3e 5Y-CDT, in which five people, including Cabinet minister George Saitoti and his assistant minister Orwa Ojode, died.
The AgustaWestland AW 139 helicopter was reportedly bought at Sh683 million when the actual price, according to the manufacturer, ranges from between US$10 million (Sh1 billion) to US$12 million (Sh1.2 billion).
How lucky was the Kenya Police Air Wing to purchase a “new” helicopter for half the cost of a new one?
A team of accident investigators form AgustaWestland arrived in the country last week to conduct investigations and have visited the scene.
While the outcome will reveal what actually caused the accident, it is unlikely to address what ails the Kenya Police Air Wing.