Raila Attack: Pilot Says It Will Cost Over Sh10 Million to Replace Damaged Helicopter Windshield

Following an attack on ODM leader Raila Odinga’s helicopter in Eldoret on Friday, it has emerged that it may cost at least Sh10 million to replace its damaged windshield.

The air shield was broken after rowdy youths pelted the chopper with stones as Odinga and his entourage left the burial of the late businessman Mzee Jackson Kibor in Soy, Uasin Gishu County.

Major (Rt) Thomas Samoei, a senior instructor at the Kenya School of Aviation, told The Standard that such incidents could lead to a hike in aviation insurance prices.

“Normally, insurance cover for a chopper is Sh10 million per year. But the companies hiring them out for political activities would consider increasing the cost of cover against any eventualities,” Samoei explained.

The veteran pilot says laxity among security officers during political campaigns was to blame for the attack on Odinga’s helicopter.

Samoei, a former pilot of Kenya’s second president Daniel Moi, divulged that most of the helicopters used by local politicians are hired from aviation companies.

He noted that there are no locally available spare parts for choppers, and due to import delays it might take three months to replace a broken windscreen.
 
“In Kenya, we don’t have ready-made spare parts and the company will have to source from agents in South Africa. Then again, the same dealer will have to purchase from either US or Europe in a process that would take about a month,” he stated.

He pointed out that a helicopter windbreak goes for around Sh7 million, but the price may exceed Sh10 million if customs and import fees are factored in.