A renowned Kenyan conservationist, Dr Anthony King, and a cameraman for Discovery Channel aviation show "Dangerous Flights", John Driftmier, were killed on Sunday 24 February when their light aircraft, an Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat (MSN 239 | 5Y-LWF), crashed near Mt Kenya. |
| Mount Kenya (jungleafricasafaris) |
According to Kenya's 'The Nation' paper, Mt Kenya national park senior warden Simon Gitau said the aircraft, which was owned by the Laikipia Wildlife Forum (LWF), crashed on Sunday afternoon about 14,500 feet above sea level near Lake Michaelson.
Dr King had served as the executive director of the LWF executive director and was also involved in the development of a wildlife conservation strategy for the country.
Kenyan aviation blog, Kenyan Aviator, adds:
"John Driftmier, aged 30, was one of the cameramen that were following Pete Zacagninno during the ferry flight of the Caravan C208B that I blogged about last week, from the US to Nanyuki. Even though the aircraft was delivered on Thursday the 21st, they had been hanging around filming extras for Dangerous Flights and I have now gotten to understand that Dr. King was taking John for a survey flight around Nanyuki when then crash happened."
The exact circumstances of the crash are not yet known, though it is
said to have happened near the spot where an Emirates Air Transport DC7 (MSN 45467/970 | TZ-ARC) crashed in 1976.
