US team helps in plane crash inquiry

DOUALA – US aviation experts conferred with their Kenyan and Cameroonian counterparts yesterday in an effort to determine what caused a Kenya Airways jet to crash into a central African swamp, killing all 114 people on board.

A team from the US National Transportation Safety Board was meeting with the African experts, said Lonnie Kelley, the US Embassy spokesman in Cameroon. British experts and officials from Boeing, which made the 737-800 that crashed Saturday, also were expected to arrive later Wednesday.Kenya Airways chairman Evanson Mwaniki said his company was bringing in British forensic and DNA specialists and equipment to help identify bodies.Bodies were being found in pieces and badly decomposed after more than 40 hours in the water, making the “identification process more complicated and time consuming,” Mwaniki said.Kenya Airways officials said yesterday that the remains of 81 of those aboard had been recovered so far.The airline’s chief pilot, James Ouma, told a Nairobi news conference on Tuesday that Kenyan crash investigators at the site now believe Flight 507 crashed about 30 seconds after takeoff.Officials in Cameroon had said earlier that they lost contact with the aircraft 11-13 minutes into the flight.The investigation has just begun, and the discrepancy could not immediately be explained.Kenyan officials also said Tuesday they would like the flight data recorder, which was discovered on Monday, to be examined in Canada, but acknowledged the decision would be made by Cameroon.Officials in Cameroon refused to say whether there was any conflict with Kenya over the flight recorder or crash investigation.Nampa-APBritish experts and officials from Boeing, which made the 737-800 that crashed Saturday, also were expected to arrive later Wednesday.Kenya Airways chairman Evanson Mwaniki said his company was bringing in British forensic and DNA specialists and equipment to help identify bodies.Bodies were being found in pieces and badly decomposed after more than 40 hours in the water, making the “identification process more complicated and time consuming,” Mwaniki said.Kenya Airways officials said yesterday that the remains of 81 of those aboard had been recovered so far.The airline’s chief pilot, James Ouma, told a Nairobi news conference on Tuesday that Kenyan crash investigators at the site now believe Flight 507 crashed about 30 seconds after takeoff.Officials in Cameroon had said earlier that they lost contact with the aircraft 11-13 minutes into the flight.The investigation has just begun, and the discrepancy could not immediately be explained.Kenyan officials also said Tuesday they would like the flight data recorder, which was discovered on Monday, to be examined in Canada, but acknowledged the decision would be made by Cameroon.Officials in Cameroon refused to say whether there was any conflict with Kenya over the flight recorder or crash investigation.Nampa-AP