Kenya on Wednesday lost one of its senior pilots working with Kenya Airways.
While at a London hospital, Captain Salah Salim Jeizan was pronounced dead, KQ’s chief human resources officer Evelyne Munyoki said.
Captain Jeizan had flown to Heathrow Airport on November 7 and upon landing, he developed breathing complications while at his hotel in London.
He was quickly rushed to a nearby hospital where he has been admitted since until his demise. At one point, had to be put on oxygen to aid in his breathing.
KQ has since condoled with his family saying that it is a tough time to lose a colleague.
“We have informed our staff about the passing away of our colleague. May he RIP. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time,” communications director Dennis Kashero told the Star Wednesday.
“On behalf of the board of directors, the management and staff of Kenya Airways, we join the family of the late captain Jeizan in mourning their beloved one and pray that the almighty God will strengthen them during this time of sorrow,” KQ added.
Captain Jeizan started flying for KQ in 2001 after switching from Flamingo which was then a subsidiary of Kenya Airways. He was born in October 1963.
At the time of his death, he was a senior captain who flew the Boeing 787 fleet and his rise through the ranks according to KQ was as a result of his hardwork.
His key routes were Europe, the US and Middle East which he had flown over the years he worked as a pilot with KQ.
Captain Jeizan’s death is a big blow to KQ which once again lost a senior pilot after Captain Daudi Kibati died in April.
The late Captain Kabati has just returned from an evacuation flight from New York to Nairobi and a week later, he was down with COVID-19 which killed him.
He was eulogized for his heroic spirit in evacuating stranded Kenyans in the US when the pandemic was at its peak a month after it was reported in Kenya.
Pilots and cabin crew remain under a huge threat as front line workers just like their counterparts in the health ministry who are the most vulnerable.
