Twelve from Atlanta family killed in Kenya plane crash

NAIROBI, Kenya — A chartered aircraft carrying three generations of an Atlanta family to a game reserve plowed into Mount Kenya, killing all 12 tourists and the two South African pilots on board, officials said yesterday.

The twin-engine Fairchild turboprop hit Point Lenana, the third-highest peak on Africa's second-highest mountain, as a cloudy sky was beginning to clear just before sunset Saturday, said Bongo Woodley, senior Kenya Wildlife Service warden in charge of Mount Kenya National Park.

Rangers based below the crash site at the 16,000-foot level found no survivors when they visited the site late Saturday but recovered eight American passports, Woodley said.

In Atlanta, the Rev. P.C. Enniss Jr. at Trinity Presbyterian Church identified the victims: Dr. George Brumley, 68; his wife, Jean, 67; three of their children, George III, Lois and Beth; George's wife Julia and two children, George IV and Jordan; Lois' husband Richard Murrell and their son, Alex, 11; and Beth's husband William Love and their daughter Sarah, 12.

"They were just loved by every member of the congregation, and they were just like family," Enniss said.

Senior police and civil-aviation officials visited the area yesterday. Peter Wakahia, a Kenyan civil-aviation official, said the aircraft had been "completely destroyed," and debris was scattered on two rock outcrops on either side of the point of impact.

Mount Kenya, an extinct volcano, has three peaks: Batian at 17,157 feet; Nelion at 17,120 feet; and Point Lenana at 16,450 feet.

Anne Gaines-Burrill, a director of Air-2000, a South African charter company, said the plane left from Lanseria airport near Johannesburg at 6 a.m. Saturday and landed at Nairobi's Wilson Airport about 2 p.m.

About two hours later, the plane took off for Buffalo Springs National Reserve, where it was expected to leave the passengers at an airstrip, officials said. Buffalo Springs is 135 miles north of Nairobi.

It wasn't clear where the Americans were to go after getting off at Buffalo Springs. In addition to public lodges and tented camps in the highlands area of spectacular rolling hills and mountains, there are a number of exclusive private game ranches in the region, which also encompasses the Samburu and Shaba national reserves.