Neutral Canada to study plane black box: Kenya

NAIROBI – Kenya wants Canada to analyse the black box from a Kenya Airways plane that crushed in the Cameroonian mangrove swamp on Saturday.

“Canada, unlike Kenya and Cameroon and also the United States where Boeing manufacturers are located, is not an interested party,” government spokesman Alfred Mutua told a news conference in Nairobi. “We also do feel that European nations would not be viewed as neutral due to competition between Boeing and Airbus,” Mutua said.Canada’s two official languages would aid analysis of information from English-speaking investigators and French speakers from Cameroon, he added.Investigators on Monday recovered the data recorder from the tail of the Boeing 737-800 but have yet to find its voice recorder, containing details of conversations between the pilot and the control tower in Douala, from where the plane took off.Despite reports from investigators that all those on the plane, discovered in a Cameroonian swamp more than 36 hours after it took off, had died, Kenyan officials refused yesterday to give up hope for survivors.”We continue to pray to God and we continue to hope for the best until the medical team comes back and officially announces what it would like us to pass on,” Mutua said.The CEO of Kenya Airways Titus Naikuni left for Douala early yesterday where he was due to visit the accident site and speak to the media.Kenya Airways flight 507 began its journey in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan, and collected passengers on a stopover in Douala late Friday before heading for Nairobi.The plane was carrying 105 people from 27 countries.Most had been planning to connect through Nairobi to other destinations outside Kenya.Nampa-AFP”We also do feel that European nations would not be viewed as neutral due to competition between Boeing and Airbus,” Mutua said.Canada’s two official languages would aid analysis of information from English-speaking investigators and French speakers from Cameroon, he added.Investigators on Monday recovered the data recorder from the tail of the Boeing 737-800 but have yet to find its voice recorder, containing details of conversations between the pilot and the control tower in Douala, from where the plane took off.Despite reports from investigators that all those on the plane, discovered in a Cameroonian swamp more than 36 hours after it took off, had died, Kenyan officials refused yesterday to give up hope for survivors.”We continue to pray to God and we continue to hope for the best until the medical team comes back and officially announces what it would like us to pass on,” Mutua said.The CEO of Kenya Airways Titus Naikuni left for Douala early yesterday where he was due to visit the accident site and speak to the media.Kenya Airways flight 507 began its journey in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan, and collected passengers on a stopover in Douala late Friday before heading for Nairobi.The plane was carrying 105 people from 27 countries.Most had been planning to connect through Nairobi to other destinations outside Kenya.Nampa-AFP