A safari helicopter crashed near Mount Ololokwe in Samburu County, in northern Kenya, on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, at about 9:13 a.m. local time. All seven people aboard — the pilot and six passengers — were killed. Kenya’s Civil Aviation Authority has reported no survivors.
The aircraft was a Eurocopter EC130 B4, registration 5Y-GYM, operated by the Kenyan charter company Lady Lori Helicopters. The passengers were guests of the luxury safari operator &Beyond, on a scenic tour over Samburu County.
Key facts
- Date and time: Wednesday, August 19, 2026, about 9:13 a.m. local time
- Location: near Mount Ololokwe, Samburu County, northern Kenya
- Aircraft: Eurocopter EC130 B4, registration 5Y-GYM, operated by Lady Lori Helicopters
- Toll: all 7 aboard killed — the pilot and 6 passengers; no survivors reported
- Passengers: guests of luxury safari operator &Beyond, on a scenic tour over Samburu County
- Route: accounts differ — Kenya’s Civil Aviation Authority says the helicopter departed from Loisaba and was headed toward the Ewaso Nyiro area; the operator, Lady Lori Helicopters, says it was a charter from Suyian Conservancy to Mount Ololokwe
Who was killed
The pilot was Josh Outram, a Kenyan national and founder of Africa Heli Adventures.
Among the passengers were four people identified by U.S. officials as American citizens. Roger Edward Duarte was a Key Biscayne, Florida restaurateur and founder of the stone-crab delivery company George Stone Crab; he is survived by his wife, Nicole Valls — a granddaughter of the founder of Miami’s Versailles restaurant — and their two children. Adam Martin Hlavaty and Henry Parra were a married South Florida couple who wed in 2017. Hlavaty was a co-founder of the real-estate and branded-design firm Mrkt Group and a former vice president at Pollo Tropical and Benihana. Parra was a Miami aviation-software executive and U.S. Navy veteran. Jose Alberto Suarez, 55, was president and general manager of a group of Telemundo-owned television stations and an employee of NBCUniversal with more than 25 years in the media industry.
Also killed were Michele Sensi-Contugi, described in reports as Ecuador’s national intelligence chief, and his wife, Stephany Maria Hollihan Vasconez, a dual U.S.-Ecuadorian citizen who worked as a fashion designer and was the founder and CEO of the label Sensi Studio, according to Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry. The couple is reported to have two surviving children.
The U.S. State Department confirmed that American citizens were among the dead and said the U.S. Embassy is providing consular assistance to their families. The department’s initial statement put the toll at four Americans; several outlets have since reported five, a count that appears to include Stephany Hollihan Vasconez, who held dual U.S.-Ecuadorian citizenship.
Recovery effort
As of Wednesday evening, three bodies remained trapped in the wreckage. The Kenya Red Cross said recovery work was being hampered by difficult terrain and an active fire at the crash site, and it dispatched an additional team from Isiolo. Operations were expected to continue into Thursday, August 20. No update beyond that point was available at publication.
Investigation
Kenya’s Air Accident Investigation Department, under the Ministry of Roads and Transport, is leading the investigation, coordinating with the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. No cause has been determined or announced.