afrol News, 8 May - Cameroonian authorities have begun an inquiry into the crashing of the Kenyan Airways in Cameroon at the weekend. The plane crashed few minutes after it took off, leaving 114 people on board killed.

After three days of extensive rescue mission, the flight’s data recorder was found at the site of the crash.

However, rescuers are yet to locate the voice recorder which would have allowed aviation experts to know why the six-month old plane had stopped producing signals after a distress call.

The Boeing 737-800 KQ 507 had a new device that automatically produces signals for two days.

After more than 36 hours of searching the plane, rescuers found it in a mangrove swamp. They have started discovering some dozens of decomposed bodies.

The plane carrying 27 nationalities departed from Douala for the Kenyan capital Nairobi when it crashed. The victims include passengers from several west, central north and southern African countries, the Comoros Islands, Korea, the United States, Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, China and India. The entire crew were Kenyans.

The plane sent communication to the control tower in Douala after take-off but it later issued an automatic distress signal. The aircraft is among the new fleet of planes bought by Kenya Airways, which has been known for good safety record.

The airline last recorded a crash in January 2000, when its Airbus A310 plunged into the sea after take off from Abidjan, killing 169 of the 179 passengers on board.

Rescue workers who spotted the wreckage ruled out any possibility of finding a single survivor. The plane’s parts and debris could be seen scattered.

The search and recovery mission is jointly led by the International Red Cross and Cameroonian government.

Besides, experts from the United States National Transportation Safety Board are expected to storm the scene to assist with forensics and the recovery of bodies.

Villagers close to Mbanga Pongo had earlier told rescuers that they saw they saw a body, one arm, some seats and a piece of plane about the size of a car door.

But according to Kenya Airways Chief Executive Officer of Kenya Airways, Titus Naikuni, some fishermen led rescuers to the site.

With a fleet of 23 commercial jets serving 44 operations across the world, KA has succeeded in conquering most routes in West Africa within a short period of time. Its newly introduced flights to Liberia and Benin have been highly welcome.

KA’s aggressive expansion programme started in 2004 when it phased out the Boeing 737-200 fleet and replaced it with the Boeing 737-800.

Its first Boeing 737-800 arrived in Nairobi from Singapore Aircraft Enterprise in November.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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