Telemundo Is Mourning the Loss of José Suárez After a Fatal Helicopter Crash in Samburu Kenya

José Suárez, president and general manager of Telemundo 31, Telemundo 49 and Telemundo Fort Myers-Naples, died Wednesday in a helicopter crash in Samburu, in northeastern Kenya. He was 55 years old. The aircraft went down at 9:13 in the morning while flying from the Loisaba Nature Reserve toward the Ewaso Nyiro area in Samburu County, according to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, which confirmed in a statement that an investigation is underway. There were seven people on board, six passengers and the pilot, and there were no survivors. Four of those killed were American citizens.

Telemundo confirmed the news through a statement signed by its top executives, describing Suárez as an exceptional colleague and a mentor to many. The statement was issued by César Conde, president of NBCU News Group, Valari Staab, president of NBCU Local, and José Cancela, president of the Telemundo Station Group, who expressed deep pain at the loss of someone who had dedicated more than three decades of his career to Spanish-language journalism in Florida.

A Career Built Over 35 Years in Spanish-Language Media

Suárez was a Florida native who spent 35 years working in media across Florida, Ohio and Texas, building a career that earned him recognition across the industry he served throughout his professional life. His awards included a Lone Star Emmy, a Suncoast Emmy, three Emmy awards for Best Daily Newscast and multiple Associated Press honors, a body of recognition that reflected a journalist who consistently produced work that met the highest standards of the profession.

His role at the helm of three Telemundo stations in Florida made him one of the most influential figures in Spanish-language local news in the state, serving communities across Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers-Naples that depend on Telemundo’s coverage for information about their cities, their state and their country. The scope of his responsibilities reflected the trust that Telemundo’s parent company placed in him over a career that spanned multiple markets and multiple decades.

The Crash and What Is Known

The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that the helicopter crashed while traveling between two locations in Samburu County on Wednesday morning, and that an investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing. The destination of the aircraft at the time of the crash has not been confirmed. According to the Associated Press, four of the seven people on board were American citizens, and Suárez was among those killed. No further details about the other passengers have been released publicly.

Samburu is a region in northeastern Kenya known for its wildlife reserves and tourism infrastructure, and the flight appears to have been operating in that context given its departure from the Loisaba Nature Reserve. The Kenyan authorities are leading the investigation and have not released preliminary findings about what caused the aircraft to go down.

The Loss to Telemundo and to the Latino Community

The executives who signed Telemundo’s statement described Suárez in terms that go past standard corporate language about a colleague. Calling someone a mentor to many in a public statement of this kind reflects something real about the role he played within the organization and within the broader community of journalists and broadcasters who worked alongside him or came up through the stations he led.

Spanish-language local news in Florida serves one of the largest and most diverse Latino populations in the United States, and the people who lead those stations occupy a position that matters enormously to the communities they cover. José Suárez spent 35 years in that work, earned recognition at every level of the industry and died while away from the newsrooms he had built his career in. He was 55 years old, and the loss to Telemundo, to Florida journalism and to the Latino community he served is real and immediate.