Kenian 737 with 115 passengers lost in the jungle
Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 8:32 am
Kenya Airways loses contact with 737, 115 on board
NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Kenya Airways 737-800 passenger plane bound for Nairobi with 115 people on board went missing on Saturday shortly after takeoff from Cameroon.
"We have no details at the moment as to what happened to our aircraft," Kenya Airways Group Managing Director Titus Naikuni told a news conference. "So far we have not, nor has the tower, been able to establish contact."
The plane was carrying 106 passengers and nine crew, he said. Its flight path from Douala in Cameroon to the Kenyan capital would have taken it over the dense Congo forest.
The company said the Douala control tower had received the last message from the aircraft right after takeoff. The plane had been due to land in Nairobi at 6:15 a.m. (0315 GMT).
An official at Douala airport said they had no information on the plane. Foreign diplomats in Cameroon said they had heard the Kenya Airways statement but had no further details.
Kenya Airways, one of Africa's few profitable carriers, said it had set up a crisis centre to monitor events and a passenger information centre at a local hotel.
The plane had landed in Cameroon after taking off from Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Naikuni said.
On January 30, 2000, a Kenya Airways Airbus A-310 crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff from Abidjan, killing 169 of the 179 passengers and crew.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNew ... 6620070505
NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Kenya Airways 737-800 passenger plane bound for Nairobi with 115 people on board went missing on Saturday shortly after takeoff from Cameroon.
"We have no details at the moment as to what happened to our aircraft," Kenya Airways Group Managing Director Titus Naikuni told a news conference. "So far we have not, nor has the tower, been able to establish contact."
The plane was carrying 106 passengers and nine crew, he said. Its flight path from Douala in Cameroon to the Kenyan capital would have taken it over the dense Congo forest.
The company said the Douala control tower had received the last message from the aircraft right after takeoff. The plane had been due to land in Nairobi at 6:15 a.m. (0315 GMT).
An official at Douala airport said they had no information on the plane. Foreign diplomats in Cameroon said they had heard the Kenya Airways statement but had no further details.
Kenya Airways, one of Africa's few profitable carriers, said it had set up a crisis centre to monitor events and a passenger information centre at a local hotel.
The plane had landed in Cameroon after taking off from Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Naikuni said.
On January 30, 2000, a Kenya Airways Airbus A-310 crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff from Abidjan, killing 169 of the 179 passengers and crew.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNew ... 6620070505