Inside flight RAO 001: The crew that brought Raila Odinga home

On the local and regional stage, few lives cast a longer shadow than that of the late Prime Minister Raila Odinga. His final journey, unexpected and profound, demanded a passage worthy of his legacy.

For Captain Saviemaria Ondego and in-flight performance manager, an ordinary scheduled Nairobi-Mumbai flight was about to become an indelible chapter in history.

That flight made history both by the person whose body it carried and the attention it attracted, both locally and regionally. The crew aboard that flight recounts the moments aboard the flight that brought Baba home.

Captain Saviemaria had landed in Mumbai on Monday and was scheduled to return to Nairobi Thursday morning; a phone call from her boss, however, changed the nature of her flight.

“When I was preparing to rest, it's when my boss sent me a message asking me how are you, how is the team in Mumbai. It was not unusual, I thought he was just checking in on us. Then he said I know you have heard about what is happening back home, and since you guys are in Mumbai, kazi kwenu,” said Captain Saviemaria Ondego.

Saviemaria, a veteran with 18 years of flying, was entrusted not only with the hundreds of souls aboard the flight but also with the sacred duty of delivering a national hero home. That task began on the tarmac at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Mumbai Airport.

“I was at the hangar when his body was being loaded onto the plane. It was an emotional moment; after all, he was someone’s father. I could feel Winnie’s pain,” he noted.

Jason Mose, on the other hand, had the task of taking care of the passengers on board both the flight to Mumbai and the return to Nairobi. On board were government dignitaries and family members, alongside the scheduled passengers, who were his main concern.

“The mood in the cabin was emotional; people were anxious. I had to explain to the other passengers what the flight was all about; some of them were sympathetic to us,” Jason stated.

Jason says the combined 12 hours of flying went by fast, but they also felt like the longest flight he’s ever undertaken. The weight of that flight became apparent when the aeroplane entered Kenyan airspace.

“When the call sign for the flight was changed to RAO 001, that changed everything. The family was overwhelmed; they cried tears. The dignitaries were overwhelmed,” Jason explained.

The crew of at least eight people brought the most tracked flight in the country in recent times to a smooth landing and heroic welcome into Nairobi — a scene that presented its own set of logistical challenges.

“The boda bodas were in front of the aeroplane; the crowd had surrounded the aircraft. I still had passengers that I was responsible for. My team led by Jason, rallied; we got a bus and ensured that the passengers were safely offboard. We secured ourselves in the aircraft, looked outside and just said, Wow,” said Captain Ondego.