Kenya Airways Flight 507

Infobox Airliner accident
Crash

Image caption= KA-B737-800.jpg
name = Kenya Airways Flight 507
Date = 5 May 2007
Type = Loss of contact
Site = Mbanga Pongo, in the Douala III subdivision, 5.42 km south (176°) of the end of Douala airport runway 12 (approx. coord|3.951|N|9.734|E|region:CM_type:landmark)
Fatalities = 114
Origin = Port Bouet Airport
Last stopover= Douala International Airport
Destination = Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
Aircraft Type= Boeing 737-8AL [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20070505-0]
Operator = Kenya Airways
Tail Number = [http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?id=1131304 5Y-KYA]
Passengers = 105
Crew = 9
Survivors = 0

Kenya Airways Flight 507 was a Boeing 737-800 flight of Kenya Airways flying from Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon, to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, which crashed on 5 May 2007. The flight originated from Port Bouet Airport in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, but made a stop in Douala to pick up more passengers. It departed Douala at 0105 GMT (0005 local time) on 5 May. It had been scheduled to arrive in Nairobi at 0315 GMT (0615 local time).

Kenya Airways has released a passenger list indicating that the 105 passengers onboard were citizens of 26 different countries; none of them were Kenyan. The entire 9-member crew were from Kenya.cite news |title= Full list of Passengers of Flight KQ 507 |url= http://web.archive.org/web/20070509010102/http://84.40.1.214/Nationalities+List.htm |publisher= Kenya Airways |date=2007-05-06 |accessdate=2007-05-08] 17 passengers boarded in Abidjan while the rest boarded in Douala.Source: Kenya Airways

The plane broke up into small pieces and came to rest mostly submerged in a forested swamp, 5.42 km to the south (176°) of the end of the Douala International Airport's runway 12.cite news |title=Grim Work Continues at Plane Crash Site |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050800775.html | publisher Washington Post |date=2007-05-08 |accessdate=2007-05-09] There were no survivors.cite news |title= No chance of survivors from Kenya plane - Cameroon |url= http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07150889.htm |publisher= Reuters AlertNet |date=2007-05-07 |accessdate=2007-05-07]

After the crash, the flight route designation was changed to Flight 504 of flights between Douala and Nairobi with the same aircraft.

Crash

Flight 507 was one of three flights scheduled to depart Douala airport around midnight on May 5. It was being flown using one of three 737-800s that Kenya Airways had recently acquired from Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise. [cite news |title= Plane was one of KQ's newly acquired crafts |url= http://www.timesnews.co.ke/06may07/nwsstory/news2.html |publisher= Sunday Times |date=2007-05-05 |accessdate=2007-05-05] The airframe first flew on October 9, 2006 [cite web |url=http://www.planespotters.net/Production_List/Boeing/737/35069.html |title=planespotters.net |publisher=planespotters.net |date=06/05/2007 |accessdate=2007-05-06] and was delivered from Boeing later that month. [cite web |url=http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=5Y-KYA&distinct_entry=true |title=airliners.net |publisher=airliners.net |date=06/05/2007 |accessdate=2007-05-06]

The aircrews of the other two flights, Cameroon Airways and Royal Air Maroc, elected to wait for the weather to improve, while the Kenya Airways crew, perhaps because they had already been delayed over an hour, elected to take off. [cite news|url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20070511143459634C636791|title=Reconstructing Flight 507's Final Moments|date=May 12, 2007] Contact with the plane was lost soon after takeoff from Douala; it did not report in upon reaching 5,000 feet as was procedure. The control tower may have received a distress signal from the aircraft before the loss of contactcite news|title= Plane Carrying 115 People Crashes |url= http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1264276,00.html |publisher= Sky News |date=May 5, 2007 |accessdate=2007-05-05] ; later reports contradicted the statement.Kenya Airways set up a crisis management center at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.

On 6 May 2007, Cameroon's state radio interrupted broadcasts to report that wreckage of the plane had been found near Mvengue, southwest of the capital Yaoundé, only to say later it could not confirm the report. [cite news|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL0546226620070506|title=Reuters - Searchers comb dense Cameroon forest for Kenya plane|date=May 6, 2007|publisher=Reuters]

Later that day Kenyan Airways officials reported that the wreckage of the aircraft had been found 5.42 kilometres south (176°) of the end of the airport's runway 12, some 120 kilometres from the site mentioned in the earlier radio broadcasts. Initial reports from the crash site did not mention survivors. [cite news|url=http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?storyID=2007-05-06T195822Z_01_L06657609_RTRIDST_0_KENYA-AIR-UPDATE-5-PICTURE-GRAPHIC.XML|title=UPDATE 5-Cameroon finds Kenya plane, no word of survivors|date=May 6, 2007|publisher=Reuters]

Further, Kenya Airways Group Managing Director Titus Naikuni said in Nairobi that local people had led rescuers to the crash site.

"We are told the aircraft was covered by a canopy of trees, and that was the delay in sighting the crash site," he said.

Cameroon's Minister of State for Territorial Administration Hamidou Yaya Marafa told a news conference that day, "All I can say for now is that the wreckage of the plane has been located in the small village of Mbanga Pongo, in the Douala III subdivision. We are putting in place rescue measures." [cite news|url=http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/cameroon-finds-kenyan-airways-plane/20074407-bdf.html|title=UPDATE 6-Cameroon finds Kenyan Airways plane|date=May 7, 2007|publisher=Brisbane Times]

On 7 May 2007 director of Civil Protection Service of Cameroon Jean-Pierre Nana claimed that "there are no chances that there will be any survivors because almost the entire body of the plane was buried inside the swamp".

On 8 May Kenya Airways reported that 29 bodies had been recovered from the crash site while reports from Cameroon reported that over 40 had been recovered. Workers reported that the bodies are "badly disfigured" and that identification would be difficult. Heavy rains in the area continued to hamper all efforts. [cite news|url=http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=42459|title=Flight KQ 507:29 bodies recovered|date=May 8, 2007|publisher=KBC]

Investigation

Early attention as to the cause of the crash had centered on the possibility of dual engine flameout during heavy weather. Several clues had pointed in this direction including the time the plane had been in the air, the distress call issued by the aircraft (both later disputed), the meteorological conditions at the time of the crash, and the nose-down position of the wreckage. Experts theorized that this would be consistent with the plane losing power in both engines, attempting to glide back to the airport, and stalling during the attempt. [cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6615189,00.html|title=Engine Failure Studied in Cameroon Crash|date=May 7, 2007|publisher=AP] Other experts theorized that lightning had played a role in the crash. [cite news|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2007/05/09/2003360077|title=Rescuers recover human remains at Cameroon crash site|date=May 9, 2007] The National Transportation Safety Board of the United States sent a go-team to assist with the investigation. [ [http://www.ntsb.gov/Pressrel/2007/070505.htm NTSB SENDING TEAM TO ASSIST IN THE INVESTIGATION OF A 737 CRASH IN CAMEROON] - NTSB - Obtained May 8, 2007.]

On 8 May 2007 "Kenya Airways chief pilot James Ouma told a news conference in Nairobi that Kenyan investigators believe the jet crashed about 30 seconds after takeoff. Officials in Cameroon had said earlier that they lost contact with the jet 11-13 minutes into the flight."

On 12 May 2007, DNA testing of relatives of the victims began in Douala. [cite news|url=http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=42544|title=KQ flight: DNA tests begin in Douala|date=May 12, 2007]

The flight data recorder was recovered, and Kenya subsequently requested that the "black box" be analyzed in Canada, not the US or Europe. The reason stated was the ongoing "conflict" between Boeing vs. Airbus in the global airliner marketplace. Kenya also stressed that Canada's bilingual nature would ease communications between it, French-speaking Cameroon, and English-speaking Kenya. [cite news|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200705080342.html|title=Govt Wants 'Black Box' Analysed in Canada|date=May 8, 2007] The analysis did take place in Canada and was completed on May 30, though the results of the analysis were not immediately disclosed because only Cameroon may release such data per the Convention on International Civil Aviation. [cite news|url=http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/newsarticle.asp?newsid=2303&newscategoryid=1|title=Analysis of KQ 507's flight Flight Data Recorder complete|date=May 30, 2007]

The cockpit voice recorder took much longer to locate, as it was buried in 15 meters of mud, amidst the wreckage of the cockpit. [cite news|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200705141592.html|title=KQ Resumes Cameroon Flights|date=May 15, 2007] But it was eventually located on 16 June 2007 and prepared for transport to Canada for examination as the FDR had been. [cite news|url=http://www.buanews.gov.za/view.php?ID=07061811151003&coll=buanew07|title=Kenyan flight KQ 507 - Cockpit voice recorder recovered|date=June 18, 2007]

On 29 June 2007 an article appeared in the Business Daily Africa that said the pilots had been exonerated from blame in the crash. The article did not state who had exonerated them and why. The article also said examination of the DFDR had shown no mechanical failures on the plane, implied that weather was the sole reason for the crash, and that the CVR had not yet been recovered, despite widespread reporting 13 days earlier that it had been. [cite news|url=http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1697&Itemid=5810|title=KQ exonerated from blame in Douala crash|date=June 29, 2007]

As of 22 April 2008, Kenya Airways said it has yet to be provided any report or cause of the crash by investigators. [cite news|url=http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=49601|title=KQ yet to receive report on Douala crash|date=April 22, 2008]

Nationalities of the victims

Source: Kenya Airways

Notable passengers

*Campbell Utton - CEO MTN Group Cameroon
*Sarah Stewart - CFO MTN Group Cameroon [" [http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/11-05-2007/91307-service-0 Mourners gather to honour staff killed in plane crash] ," "Pravda"]
*Amol Chauhan - The Director of Parle Products, India [" [http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/08/stories/2007050806151000.htm Amol Chauhan mourned] ," "The Hindu"]

References

[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/11/africa/AF-GEN-Cameroon-Planes-Last-Moments.php Reconstructing the last moments of Kenya Airways Flight 507 11 May 2007 IHT]

External links

* [http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=5Y-KYA Pre-accident pictures of the aircraft]
* [http://www.kenya-airways.com/ Kenya Airways official web site]
* [http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4778050.html Airliner crashes in Cameroon] — "Houston Chronicle"
* Kenya Airways website information
** 9 May: http://web.archive.org/web/20070509002518/http://84.40.1.214/
** 13 May: http://web.archive.org/web/20070513121401/http://84.40.1.214/index.html
** 16 May: http://web.archive.org/web/20070516121429/http://84.40.1.214/