A tourist helicopter crashed in Kenya’s Samburu County on Wednesday, killing all seven people on board, including six passengers and the pilot. The Eurocopter EC130 B4 was operating a sightseeing flight in the Loisaba Conservancy area, near Mount Ololokwe and the Ewaso Nyiro route, when it went down at about 09:13 local time. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has opened an investigation, while the cause remains unknown.
The crash happened in a remote wildlife region that is popular with safari visitors, underscoring the operational risks of low-altitude tourism flying in rugged terrain. Reuters reported that five of the victims were Americans, while Ecuador confirmed that its intelligence chief Michele Sensi-Contugi and his wife were among the dead. Final identification of all victims was still being completed in some reports.
The aircraft was operated by a charter company serving safari and leisure travellers. Local authorities and aviation investigators are now working to establish the sequence of events and recover further evidence from the crash site.