Plane crashes while flying tourists to Kenya's Maasai Mara, killing 11 people

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A plane crash killed 11 people, mostly foreign tourists, in Kenya’s coastal region of Kwale early Tuesday while they were en route to the Maasai Mara National Reserve in heavy rain.

The airline, Mombasa Air Safari, said in a statement that eight Hungarian and two German passengers were on board, and the Kenyan pilot was also killed. The plane crashed in a hilly, forested area about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Diani airstrip, authorities said.

The airline did not confirm what time the aircraft departed Diani, saying the pilot failed to communicate upon departure and that the airport control tower tried to reach him for 30 minutes before the plane was located.

Investigating agencies were looking into the cause of the crash, Kwale County Commissioner Stephen Orinde told The Associated Press. Authorities initially said the crash happened at 5:30 a.m. but the transport minister in a statement gave the time as 8:35 a.m.

The aircraft burst into flames, leaving charred wreckage, officials said.

Witnesses told the AP they heard a loud bang and found unrecognizable human remains at the scene.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on social media that the foreign ministry had been in contact with Kenyan authorities.

“What a tragedy!” Orbán wrote. “Our sincere condolences to families of the Hungarians who died in the plane crash in Kenya.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on social media that the Hungarian victims were two families and an acquaintance, with two children among the dead. He said the Hungarian consul in Kenya was on the way to the scene.

The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority earlier said 12 people were on the Cessna Caravan-type aircraft. It did not give a reason for revising the number to 11.

The Mombasa Air Safari airline operates 13-passenger Cessnas to many tourist destinations.

The Maasai Mara National Reserve, in western Kenya, is a two-hour direct flight from Diani, a popular town on the Indian Ocean. One of Kenya's most visited areas, the reserve features an annual wildebeest migration from the Serengeti in Tanzania.

A Mombasa Air Safari plane crashed in the Maasai Mara in 2012, with four people killed.

According to the most recent safety oversight audit for Kenya posted on the International Civil Aviation Organization site, from 2018, Kenya's performance in the area of accident investigation fell below the global average.

AP journalist Justin Spike contributed from Budapest, Hungary.

Kenyan officials inspect the scene of a plane crash near Diani, Kenya, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo)

Kenyan officials inspect the scene of a plane crash near Diani, Kenya, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo)

Kenyan officials inspect the scene of a plane crash near Diani, Kenya, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo)

Kenyan officials inspect the scene of a plane crash near Diani, Kenya, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo)

Kenyan officials inspect the scene of a plane crash near Diani, Kenya, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo)

NEWARK, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 15, 2026--

QPS Holdings, LLC (QPS), an award-winning contract research organization (CRO) focused on bioanalysis and clinical trials announces the successful implementation of Oracle Argus, a premier pharmacovigilance system designed to support comprehensive safety case management for clinical trials.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260115711485/en/

The adoption of the Oracle Argus drug safety platform underscores QPS’s commitment to advancing patient safety, regulatory compliance, and operational excellence across its clients’ clinical drug development programs. Integrating this industry-standard safety platform strengthens QPS’ ability to capture, manage, and report adverse events in accordance with global regulatory requirements.

“Ensuring patient safety and data integrity is at the heart of what we do when conducting clinical trials,” said Derek Grimes, Executive Vice President of QPS. “Oracle Argus provides us with a robust, scalable solution to support the growing needs of our customer’s clinical trial portfolios and the evolving expectations of regulatory authorities worldwide.”

“Oracle Argus provides QPS Holdings, LLC with a trusted, globally recognized drug safety platform that supports compliance with stringent pharmacovigilance standards and regulations, while streamlining end-to-end safety operations and insights at scale,” said Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager, Oracle Health and Life Sciences. “With our industry-leading solutions, QPS Holdings, LLC can further transform and elevate its safety case management for customers worldwide.”

The deployment of Oracle Argus will enable QPS to:

As the demand for innovative therapies continues to rise, CROs play a critical role in managing both development speed and patient safety. By leveraging the Oracle Argus platform, QPS is well-positioned to deliver on its mission to accelerate pharmaceutical breakthroughs across the globe by delivering custom-built research services.

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ABOUT QPS HOLDINGS, LLC

QPS is a global, full-service, GLP/GCP-compliant contract research organization (CRO) delivering the highest grade of discovery, bioanalysis, preclinical and clinical drug development services. Since 1995, QPS has grown from a small bioanalysis shop into a full-service CRO with 1,200+ employees in the US, Europe, Asia and India. Today, QPS offers expanded pharmaceutical contract R&D services with special expertise in pharmacology, DMPK, toxicology, bioanalysis, translational medicine, PBMC processing, central safety labs, clinical trials, and clinical research services. An award-winning leader focused on bioanalysis and clinical trials, QPS is known for proven quality standards, technical expertise, a flexible approach to research, client satisfaction, turnkey laboratories, Phase I/II clinical units, and multi-site clinical research services. For more information, visit http://www.qps.com or email info@qps.com.

ABOUT ORACLE ARGUS

Oracle Argus is an industry-leading, trusted solution for processing, analyzing, and reporting adverse event cases originating in pre-market and post-market drugs, biologics, vaccines, devices, and combination products. Oracle has been a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Life Science R&D Pharmacovigilance Technology Solutions and Consulting Services 2025 Vendor Assessment (doc # US53669225, July 2025). To learn more about Oracle’s pharmacovigilance portfolio visit: https://www.oracle.com/life-sciences/safety-solutions/argus-safety-case-management/. Trademarks: Oracle, Java, MySQL and NetSuite are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation.

Derek Grimes, EVP, Global Head of Clinical Research at QPS Holdings, LLC.