Kenya Airways loses contact with jet

Kenya Airways loses contact with jet

news.yahoo.com

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya Airways has lost contact with a commercial airliner carrying more than 100 passengers that took off from Cameroon early Saturday, the airline said. "The last message was received in Douala after takeoff and thereafter the tower was unable to contact the plane," Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni said Saturday. The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 106 passengers, eight crew members and a flight engineer.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Well, I wonder what happen.

Have they crashed?

Have they been hijacked?

I hope they find them soon. The airline opened a crisis management center near the airport.

Relatives of those on the plane were to go to downtown airport, where they would get information when it comes available.



news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

According to local radiostations, it crashed in cameroon.
BBC link
Not confirmed though, not clear if anyone survived

A Kenya Airways plane with 115 people on board has crashed in southern Cameroon, near the town of Niete, Cameroon state radio reports.

If this statement is true, this is sad. What a tragic accident. Possibly due to bad weather.

Alex Bayeck, a regional communications officer, said the Nairobi-bound jet went down near the town of Lolodorf, about 155 miles south of the coastal city of Douala, where it had taken off shortly after midnight.
There was no word on survivors, said Bayeck, who spoke via telephone while en route to the crash site by car. Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni, speaking in Nairobi earlier, said that Kenya Air had not yet been officially informed that the plane had crashed, but that it was missing.

Relatives waiting at Nairobi's airport began wailing as reports of the crash filtered in. Dozens of family members cried and collapsed in the airport terminal.

news.yahoo.com...

Well it looks like this is a crash. How very sad.

The last crash was Jan. 30-2000 killed 169 people then.

[edit on 5-5-2007 by Shar]

[edit on 5-5-2007 by Shar]

The plane apparently sent a distress signal right after take-off.

AFP: Kenya Airways passenger plane crashes

Thankyou Hellmutt, for the update information.

A top government official told AFP: "We have located the plane ... and we cannot talk about it."

I wonder why they can't talk about it?

Unless, it's because they want to talk to families first. Don't know.

According to this quote from the AP article it may have been weather related and the distress signal was automated.

"Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni said the plane, which was almost new, took off an hour late because of rain. He said the distress call was issued automatically - "from a machine, not a pilot." "

This is the latest update I've found so far.

YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Teams of rescuers and villagers combed thick tropical forest in southern Cameroon on Sunday for the wreckage of a Kenya Airways passenger plane which crashed after takeoff in the central African country, officials said. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which was carrying 114 people from more than 20 countries, went missing on Saturday after leaving Douala airport bound for Nairobi in torrential rain. It was reported to have come down in thick jungle. Military helicopters backed up by villagers on motorbikes had searched a swathe of the forest-covered terrain southwest of the capital Yaounde on Saturday. But they failed to locate the plane, which initially set off from Ivory Coast, before darkness fell.

news.yahoo.com...

Well this information sure is sad. For both the families and any one who may have lived through it.

When someone survives a crash such as this time is of the essences, it’s extremely important they receive the medical treatment they need.

Not being able to locate the plane is bad. I guess it don’t have a signal locator on it. I do hope they find the plane.

If nothing else for the families who need closure.






[edit on 6-5-2007 by Shar]

'No survivors' in Cameroon crash

Worried friends and relatives have been waiting for news
A Kenya Airways plane that crashed in Cameroon on Saturday has been found submerged in a swamp and there is no chance of any survivors, officials say.

news.bbc.co.uk...

heard a rumour that there was a fault with the aircraft - but its only 6 months old and very well maintained.

No chance of survivors from Kenya plane: Cameroon

"There are no chances that there will be any survivors because almost the entire body of the plane was buried inside the swamp," Jean-Pierre Nana, director of Cameroon's civil protection department and a member of a crisis working group set up by the prime minister, told Reuters. The passengers and crew hailed from 27 nations.

Early on Monday, rescuers battled through swamps and thick forest to reach the wreckage after parts of the aircraft were found late on Sunday in a swamp, and locals reported making grim discoveries in the thick bush.

I saw one body and one arm," resident Guiffo Gande told reporters in Mbanga Pongo village, an area of dense mangrove swamps some 20 km (12.4 miles) east of Douala.

news.yahoo.com...

Well this is indeed sad. Looks, like the families will be able to put a closure on this though.

Harlequin,

That is so sad. You would think a plane that is only 6 months old, is going to last years and years. Not 6 months.
Well I think it's good they found the plane. Their going to try and retrieve the bodies now. I hope they find everyone. What a very hard task in front of them.