Five Americans are dead after a safari helicopter slammed into the foothills of Mount Ololokwe in northern Kenya on Wednesday — killed on a luxury vacation in a country where helicopter crashes are becoming routine, and where Washington sends hundreds of millions in aid while Americans at home and abroad get little in return.
All seven people aboard the Eurocopter EC130 B4 — six passengers and the pilot — were killed when the aircraft went down at 9:13 a.m. local time, according to Kenya's Civil Aviation Authority. The flight was operated by Lady Lori Helicopters and carrying guests of luxury tour company &Beyond from the Loisaba Conservancy toward the Ewaso Nyiro river area in Samburu County.
The State Department confirmed five U.S. citizens died. "The U.S. Embassy is in touch with local authorities and is providing consular assistance," a spokesperson said, adding the standard condolences.
Among the dead: José Suárez, 55, president and general manager of Telemundo-owned stations in Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Myers, identified by NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde in a memo to employees. Roger Duarte, 39, a Miami food entrepreneur who founded George Stone Crab and My Ceviche restaurant chain, was also on board, the Miami Herald reported. The other American victims were identified by families as Adam Hlavaty and Henry Parra. The pilot was named as Josh Outram.
Also killed: Michele Sensi-Contugi, the director general of Ecuador's national intelligence center, and his wife Stephany Hollihan Vasconez, a U.S.-Ecuadorian dual citizen. They are survived by two children. The presence of a foreign intelligence chief on a private safari raises its own questions, though no foul play has been suggested. Ecuador's National Assembly said its flag would fly at half-staff for three days.
Kenya's Red Cross said rescue efforts were hampered by rugged terrain and a fire at the crash site. Video verified by NBC News showed wreckage strewn across the hillsides, parts still burning.
Both the Guardian and Barchart noted what NBC and the Post buried: helicopter crashes are happening with "increasing regularity" in Kenya, which depends on domestic carriers to ferry tourists to remote destinations. In February, a Kenyan legislator was among six killed in a helicopter crash in western Kenya. Yet American tourists are still steered toward these flights by luxury operators with little apparent scrutiny of the safety record.
The U.S. sends roughly $1 billion a year in aid to Kenya. Americans get no guarantee of safety in return — not there, and not at their own border, which remains wide open while Washington funds overseas adventures and foreign infrastructure. The five Americans who died Wednesday were private citizens on a private trip, and that is their right. But the pattern is clear: this government prioritizes everything except the security and interests of the people it claims to serve.
An investigation is underway. Don't expect it to change anything.
