No sign of cockpit voice recorder as Kenya Airways reiterates commitment to safety
Canadian investigators are to analyse the flight data recorder from the Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 that crashed in Cameroon on 5 May, as the search continues for the cockpit voice recorder. Representatives of the Cameroonian and Kenyan governments plus a team comprising accident investigators and airline officials have travelled to the Canadian Transportation Safety Board to monitor the work.
Efforts are continuing at the accident site outside of Douala to pump water from the area. Kenya Airways hopes this "will assist in tracing the cockpit voice recorder". Kenya Airways flight KQ507 came down shortly after take-off from Douala on a flight to Nairobi, with the loss of all 115 occupants. Cameroon formally opened an inquiry into the accident on 18 May.
Recovery of victims is still being carried out and DNA identification is to be conducted in Bosnia - a country selected because of its experience in the field and its neutrality with respect to the nationalities of passengers on the aircraft.
Kenya Airways has underlined its commitment to safety, and as a member of the International Air Transport Association is scheduled to undergo an operational safety audit on 20 July. The airline adds that it conducts safety audits of all the destinations on its network every two years and that Douala had been scheduled to be audited from 20-24 August this year.
This programme led to the airline suspending domestic flights to Kisumu last year, and services to Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year, because of concerns over runway conditions. Kenya Airways also opted against operating to Juba in Sudan because facilities did not meet safety standards.
Source: Flight International
