Following a mid-air collision between two planes in Nairobi, two people have been officially declared dead. 

On board a Cessna aircraft owned by Ninety-Nines Flying School, the deceased are reportedly a trainee pilot and instructor. Immediately after the plane crashed into Nairobi National Park, the two were killed. 

Safarilink Aviation Limited, the owner of the second aircraft, a Dash 8, has since confirmed that the flight, carrying 39 passengers and five crew members, was headed to Diani when it was hit by "a loud bang soon after take-off."

No casualties were reported from the Safarilink airline.


"Safarilink Aviation wishes to report that this morning at 9:45 Local Time our flight number 053 with 39 passengers and 5 crew on board headed to Diani experienced a loud bang soon after take-off. The crew decided to immediately turn back to Nairobi-Wilson Airport for further inspection and assessment and landed safely. There were no casualties reported," said Safarilink in a statement.

Since then, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has started looking into what happened before the collision.

"Investigations have commenced through various agencies led by the Air Accident Investigation Department (MID) and the National Police Service to establish the cause of the accident," said the Authority.