By ALLY JAMAH

A decision to change a key component of the helicopter engine that killed former Internal Security minister George Saitoti and five others in June was allegedly made through the phone.

Michael Wafula, who is in charge of all the technical records at the Kenya Police Airwing, told the team probing the crash that the Eurocopter engineer charged with servicing the copter named Aristide had called an expert on the plane’s engine after it failed to start ten days before the crash.

“Aristide called (Chris) Venter on the phone and described that warning lights were flashing on the plane’s displays. Venter said the Electronic Engine Control Unit (EECU) could be defective and should be replaced. But he didn’t come on site. Then Aristide ordered for a new EECU,” said Wafula Thursday.

The EECU is a crucial component that allows the pilot(s) to fly a plane safely.

MORE SKILLED

Venter is a Turbomeca Engineer, who is supposed to be more skilled in the matter as the helicopter’s plane was manufactured by Turbomeca, a company based in France.

Wafula testified that Venter came to the Airwing on June 7 to fit the EECU that had been sourced from South Africa.

He said at that time, Venter was in Nairobi working for various firms that operate Eurocopter models.

He made the revelations while under cross-examination by lawyers Mayani Sankale (for Saitoti’s bodyguard Joshua Tonkei), Fred Ngatia (for Saitoti’s family), and Ashford Muriuki (for pilot Nancy Gituanja).

According to various testimonies made before the commission, the EECU was eventually replaced two days before the crash but another defect emerged.

This time a warning light indicated that the Electronic Date Recorder (EDR) had failed. 

‘SECRET FLIGHT’

“When Venter was replacing the defective EECU, they were together with Aristides. But I didn’t understand what they were talking about since they were speaking in French,” added Wafula

This revealation made Sankale and Muriuki to wonder why Wafula did not bother to find out what the French engineers were discussing.

Asked to account for the absence of EDR failure in the relevant records of the Airwing, Wafula said the EDR was not considered as a “defect” by police officials.

Thursday, Wafula could also not explain an alleged “secret flight” by the Airwing boss Rodgers Mbithi whose destination and date was not captured in the records. It only showed that Mbithi was airborne for 50 minutes.