Flight Details
On 1 November 1997 at 09:46 hours, aircraft registration 5H-AZM, a Piper PA 31-350, departed from Nairobi Wilson Airport on a visual flight rules flight to Zanzibar International Airport in Tanzania. The flight carried only one pilot and some cargo; no passengers were onboard. The flight plan indicated 3 hours 30 minutes of fuel at departure. The pilot intended to fly a direct route to Zanzibar, with Dar-es-Salaam International Airport as the alternate.
Last Communication
After takeoff, the aircraft transited the southern axis lane of the Nairobi control zone to the boundary. The pilot checked in with Nairobi Wilson Tower and was instructed to contact Nairobi Control Centre, but no contact was established with that center. At 10:20 hours, 5H-AZM contacted Kilimanjaro Control Tower, passing estimates of entering the Flight Information Region at 10:25 hours and arrival at Zanzibar at 11:40 hours. Kilimanjaro Control advised no reported traffic at VFR flight level 115 and instructed the aircraft to contact Dar-es-Salaam Control on 119.6 MHz when in range. No further transmissions were received, and the aircraft failed to arrive at Zanzibar.
Search and Discovery
Formal searches, including communications, aerial, and ground operations, were initiated on 3 November 1997 along the probable route in Kenya and Tanzania but were unsuccessful. The search was terminated on 4 December 1997, after which the incident was classified as an accident. The wreckage was eventually located in the Kibo Crater near the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania on 28 August 2003, almost six years later. The aircraft was found at 15,400 feet on the Kibo wing, approximately 30 nautical miles west of its projected track. The aircraft had been cleared to climb from 9,500 feet to 11,500 feet under visual flight rules.
Probable Cause
The official findings state that the probable cause was controlled flight into terrain for unknown reasons.