A trainee pilot has been evacuated and treated for trauma after a two-hour ordeal over Malindi skies that began when their light airplane lost one of its wheels and crash-landed at the Malindi airstrip.
The Cessna aircraft belonging to the Kenya School of Flying branch in Malindi landed without the wheel as ambulances and fire brigade teams rushed to the scene in the mid Monday incident.
It is believed that the wheel fell off mid-air and the student pilot had to fly for two hours before crash landing at Malindi International airport. It was not clear whether the wheel was found and what caused it to fall off.
The male trainee was also not identified. Journalists were barred from accessing the airstrip or scene where the aircraft crash-landed.
The trainee was advised by air-traffic control at Malindi airstrip to fly for two hours in order to expend the fuel in the craft.
Confirming the incident on Tuesday, Malindi airport manager Mohammed Karama said the aircraft- Cesna 152, flew for two hours to exhaust its fuel in order to avoid explosion while crash landing.
"The control tower noticed that its fore wheel was missing while mid-air and the male student pilot was advised to fly for two hours due to security reasons," he said.
He added that the pilot did not suffer injuries, although he was taken to the hospital together with his instructor for counseling.
He added that security teams, the fire brigade and medical personnel from Tawfique Hospital arrived at the airport even before the aircraft crash-landed.
Karama said that a section of the runway and the aircraft were damaged due to the landing impact.
Cases of aircraft crash landing in the area are not new. In November last year, a pilot was injured after a light aircraft failed to gain height during take-off, hitting an electric post near a house in Furunzi, Malindi.
In September 2016, a flight instructor and her student from Kenya School of Flying survived a crash at Malanga Primary school after their training flight developed mechanical problems.
