The military helicopter that crashed at Spennah Beach, close to Entebbe International Airport yesterday and killed Flight Capt Carol Busingye is said to have “suffered a mechanical malfunction” according to sources within the UPDF.
The crash that claimed the late Busingye’s life also has Cadet (trainee) pilot Abdallah Musa, who was being instructed, suffering severe injuries and is in critical condition at Kisubi Hospital.
Who is Captain Busingye?
Capt Busingye joined the army in 2007 and was later in 2008 sent on an exchange Cadet Course to Monduli Military Academy in Tanzania where she graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant.
In 2009, Busingye went to Nakasongola for the first aviation course and upon completion in 2010, she started flying the Jet Ranger which killed her yesterday.
According to sources, she and her colleague Pilot Cadet Abdallah Musa were being trained by a retired Tanzanian Captain.
They were on mutual training and were supposed to fly to Kampala, Mukono and then return to Entebbe but sources said the plane’s rotor blades stopped rotating and it came down a few minutes after the take-off.
Already a Captain in UPDAF, Busingye was due to graduate as a Flight Captain in May, this year. The two were training to fly in all weather, landing in mountainous and confined areas, flying at night and cross-country flying.
Ms Busingye, who was born again left a one-year child.
