TRANSPORT-KENYA: Rescuers Off To Establish Cause Of Plane Crash

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Judith Achieng'

NAIROBI, Jan 31 2000 (IPS) - A team of investigators and rescuers from Kenya were Monday sent to Ivory Coast and Nigeria to seek survivors and establish the cause of a Kenyan plane crash off the Atlantic coast with 179 people on board.

The team, composed of civil aviation engineers and Kenya Navy divers were flown Monday morning, and have began their work, although hopes have diminished for any more survivors.

“We have been told that there are ten survivors being treated in the hospital in Abidjan and the search is continuing,” Kenya Airways’s technical director Steve Clarke told journalists in the capital Nairobi on Monday. “We are only praying that there are more survivors.”

Kenya’s transport and communication minister Musalia Mudavadi said it was too early to speculate on the cause of the crash. “We cannot say anything until the investigation team comes back with the report,” he told journalists in Nairobi on Monday.

The plane, Kenya Airways flight KQ431, crushed into the sea from the Ivorian capital of Abidjan shortly after take-off Sunday night, after failing to climb into the sky.

Eye-witnesses said the plane was seen tumbling into the Atlantic Ocean and exploded on impact, breaking into pieces and scattering bodies on the water.

Rescuers found nine survivors clinging from the wreckage and one French passenger swam a distance of two kilometres to the shore. The survivors and some bodies were brought back on shore in boats and canoes.

A total of 169 passengers and 11 crew were aboard the plane, which was heading to the Nigerian city of Lagos from Abidjan before making its final journey back to Nairobi. Bad weather had forced the aircraft to overfly Lagos and land in Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast, to avoid the harmattan, a dusty seasonal wind from the deserts of north Africa.

Most of the passengers in the plane were Nigerians although the airline says there was a diversity of nationalities, including Kenyans, French, Congolese, Belgians, Rwandese, Ivorians and Senegalese.

The news of the plane crash has shocked relatives of passengers, who are receiving counselling from Kenya Airways staff in Nairobi, who are issuing regular bulletins on the incident.

Kenya Airways Monday released the names of the 11 crew members and the 10 survivors, but said it was withholding the names of the others until the next of kin were contacted.

“As we confirm the names, we will notify the relatives first before we release any names to the public,” the airline’s chief executive Richard Nyaga told journalists on Monday. “We know the process is painful for the family members and friends, so we ask for patience and understanding.”

The crash is the worst accident in the history of Kenya Airways, which since its formation in 1977, has enjoyed an excellent safety record.

Kenya Airways is one of Africa’s largest airlines, with one of the most frequent international flights from the region, running a fleet of four airbuses and six Boeing planes, serving 29 international destinations.

The airline also has received numerous awards including last year’s Africa’s Airline of the Year Award. “We have never had accidents before. Our record has been very clean,” said a Kenya Airways spokesperson.

Clarke says Kenya Airways is working closely with the local authorities in Ivory Coast to establish the cause of the crash. “Some wreckage has been found but that does not include the black box,” he said.

Airbus Industries, the manufacturer of the Airbus A310 aircraft, which crashed Sunday night, said it would provide full technical assistance to the Ivorian authorities who will be responsible for the investigation of the accident.

The plane, according to the industry’s statement made available to IPS on Monday, had been sold to Kenya Airways in 1983 and had only accumulated 58,000 flight hours, less than the average recommended life span of about 30 years.

Kenya Airways also has sought assistance from other airlines like KLM, the Dutch airline, and British Airways in the investigation.