Last Wednesday began like any other day for Captain Saviemaria Aseyo Ondego, a Kenya Airways pilot based in Mumbai. She started with a morning workout, had breakfast, and spent some time with her family before preparing for her next flight home, a routine she had perfected over the years.
But that day’s routine was about to change forever. Within hours, Captain Saviemaria’s Boeing 737-800 was reassigned for a mission steeped in history and heartbreak, to bring home the body of a man who had shaped Kenya’s political journey for decades, the late Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
What followed was a six-hour flight her crew would later describe as solemn, surreal, and unforgettable — the journey of flight RAO-001.