Kenya Airways Flight 507 was a Boeing 737 flight of Kenya Airways flying from Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon, to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, which crashed on 5 May 2007. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Kenya Airways is the Flag carrier Airline of Kenya, based in Nairobi. An aircraft registration is a unique Alphanumeric string that identifies an Aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile Port Bouet Airport, also known as Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport or Abidjan Airport, is located in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire Douala International Airport is an International airport located 6 Miles (10 Kilometres) outside the city of Douala in Cameroon Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, formerly called Embakasi Airport and Nairobi International Airport, is Kenya 's largest Aviation facility WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Kenya Airways is the Flag carrier Airline of Kenya, based in Nairobi. Douala International Airport is an International airport located 6 Miles (10 Kilometres) outside the city of Douala in Cameroon Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Province. The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, formerly called Embakasi Airport and Nairobi International Airport, is Kenya 's largest Aviation facility Nairobi (naɪˈroʊbɪ is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south Events 553 - The Second Council of Constantinople begins 1215 - Rebel Barons renounce their allegiance to King John Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The flight originated from Port Bouet Airport in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, but made a stop in Douala to pick up more passengers. Port Bouet Airport, also known as Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport or Abidjan Airport, is located in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire Abidjan is the largest city and former Capital of Côte d'Ivoire ( Ivory Coast) Côte d'Ivoire (ˌkoʊt divˈwɑː(r ' in English, kot diˈvwaʀ in French) or Ivory Coast, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a It departed Douala at 0105 GMT (0005 local time) on 5 May. Events 553 - The Second Council of Constantinople begins 1215 - Rebel Barons renounce their allegiance to King John It had been scheduled to arrive in Nairobi at 0315 GMT (0615 local time).

Kenya Airways has released a passenger list indicating that the 105 passengers onboard were citizens of 26 different countries; none of them were Kenyan. The entire 9-member crew were from Kenya. ^[1] 17 passengers boarded in Abidjan while the rest boarded in Douala. Source: Kenya Airways^[1]

The plane broke up into small pieces and came to rest mostly submerged in a forested swamp, 5. 42 km to the south (176°) of the end of the Douala International Airport's runway 12. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand A runway ( RWY) is a strip of land on an Airport, on which Aircraft can take off and land. ^[2] There were no survivors. ^[3]

After the crash, the flight route designation was changed to Flight 504 of flights between Douala and Nairobi with the same aircraft. A flight number, when combined with the name of the Airline and the date identifies a particular flight

Crash

Flight 507 was one of three flights scheduled to depart Douala airport around midnight on May 5. Events 553 - The Second Council of Constantinople begins 1215 - Rebel Barons renounce their allegiance to King John It was being flown using one of three 737-800s that Kenya Airways had recently acquired from Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout BOC Aviation, formerly named Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE is a company engaged in Commercial Aircraft Sales and Leasing, with headquarters in ^[4] The airframe first flew on October 9, 2006^[5] and was delivered from Boeing later that month. Events 768 - Carloman I and Charlemagne are crowned Kings of The Franks. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[6]

The aircrews of the other two flights, Cameroon Airways and Royal Air Maroc, elected to wait for the weather to improve, while the Kenya Airways crew, perhaps because they had already been delayed over an hour, elected to take off. ^[7] Contact with the plane was lost soon after takeoff from Douala; it did not report in upon reaching 5,000 feet as was procedure. The control tower may have received a distress signal from the aircraft before the loss of contact^[8]; later reports contradicted the statement. Kenya Airways set up a crisis management center at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.

On 6 May 2007, Cameroon's state radio interrupted broadcasts to report that wreckage of the plane had been found near Mvengue, southwest of the capital Yaoundé, only to say later it could not confirm the report. Events 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Yaoundé, (jɑːuːnˈdeɪ is the Capital city of Cameroon and second largest city in the country after Douala. ^[9]

Later that day Kenyan Airways officials reported that the wreckage of the aircraft had been found 5. 42 kilometres south (176°) of the end of the airport's runway 12, some 120 kilometres from the site mentioned in the earlier radio broadcasts. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand Initial reports from the crash site did not mention survivors. ^[10]

Further, Kenya Airways Group Managing Director Titus Naikuni said in Nairobi that local people had led rescuers to the crash site. Kenya Airways is the Flag carrier Airline of Kenya, based in Nairobi. Titus Naikuni is Kenya Airways Group Managing Director & Chief Executive Nairobi (naɪˈroʊbɪ is the capital and largest city of Kenya.

"We are told the aircraft was covered by a canopy of trees, and that was the delay in sighting the crash site," he said.

Cameroon's Minister of State for Territorial Administration Hamidou Yaya Marafa told a news conference that day, "All I can say for now is that the wreckage of the plane has been located in the small village of Mbanga Pongo, in the Douala III subdivision. We are putting in place rescue measures. "^[11]

On 7 May 2007 director of Civil Protection Service of Cameroon Jean-Pierre Nana claimed that "there are no chances that there will be any survivors because almost the entire body of the plane was buried inside the swamp"^[3]. Events 558 - In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

On 8 May Kenya Airways reported that 29 bodies had been recovered from the crash site while reports from Cameroon reported that over 40 had been recovered. Events 589 - Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo 1450 - Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen Workers reported that the bodies are "badly disfigured" and that identification would be difficult. Heavy rains in the area continued to hamper all efforts. ^[12]

Investigation

Early attention as to the cause of the crash had centered on the possibility of dual engine flameout during heavy weather. A flameout refers to the failure of a Jet engine caused by the extinction of the flame in the Combustion chamber. Several clues had pointed in this direction including the time the plane had been in the air, the distress call issued by the aircraft (both later disputed), the meteorological conditions at the time of the crash, and the nose-down position of the wreckage. Experts theorized that this would be consistent with the plane losing power in both engines, attempting to glide back to the airport, and stalling during the attempt. For other uses see Stall. In Aerodynamics, a stall is a sudden reduction in the lift forces generated by an Airfoil ^[13] Other experts theorized that lightning had played a role in the crash. ^[14] The National Transportation Safety Board of the United States sent a go-team to assist with the investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB is an independent U The United States of America —commonly referred to as the ^[15]

On 8 May 2007 "Kenya Airways chief pilot James Ouma told a news conference in Nairobi that Kenyan investigators believe the jet crashed about 30 seconds after takeoff. Events 589 - Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo 1450 - Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Officials in Cameroon had said earlier that they lost contact with the jet 11-13 minutes into the flight. "

On 12 May 2007, DNA testing of relatives of the victims began in Douala. Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[16]

The flight data recorder was recovered, and Kenya subsequently requested that the "black box" be analyzed in Canada, not the US or Europe. The flight data recorder ( FDR) or Black Box is a Flight recorder used to record specific Aircraft performance parameters The reason stated was the ongoing "conflict" between Boeing vs. Airbus in the global airliner marketplace. Kenya also stressed that Canada's bilingual nature would ease communications between it, French-speaking Cameroon, and English-speaking Kenya. ^[17] The analysis did take place in Canada and was completed on May 30, though the results of the analysis were not immediately disclosed because only Cameroon may release such data per the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, established the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO a specialized ^[18]

The cockpit voice recorder took much longer to locate, as it was buried in 15 meters of mud, amidst the wreckage of the cockpit. A Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR is a Flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flightdeck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents ^[19] But it was eventually located on 16 June 2007 and prepared for transport to Canada for examination as the FDR had been. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[20]

On 29 June 2007 an article appeared in the Business Daily Africa that said the pilots had been exonerated from blame in the crash. Events 512 - A Solar eclipse is recorded by a monastic chronicler in Ireland. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The article did not state who had exonerated them and why. The article also said examination of the DVR had shown no mechanical failures on the plane, implied that weather was the sole reason for the crash, and that the CVR had not yet been recovered, despite widespread reporting 13 days earlier that it had been. ^[21]

As of 22 April 2008, Kenya Airways claims they have yet to be provided any report or cause of the crash by investigators. Events 1500 - Portuguese Navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral becomes the first European to sight Brazil. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common ^[22]

Nationalities of the victims

Countries highlighted represent the nations whose citizens perished in the crash of Kenya Airways Flight 507

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Burkina Faso	1	0	1
Cameroon	37	0	37
Central African Republic	2	0	2
People's Republic of China	5	0	5
Comoros	1	0	1
Republic of the Congo	1	0	1
Democratic Republic of the Congo	2	0	2
Côte d'Ivoire	6	0	6
Egypt	1	0	1
Equatorial Guinea	2	0	2
Ghana	1	0	1
India	15	0	15
Kenya	0	9	9
South Korea	1	0	1
Mali	1	0	1
Mauritania	1	0	1
Mauritius	1	0	1
Niger	3	0	3
Nigeria	6	0	6
Senegal	1	0	1
South Africa	7	0	7
Sweden	1	0	1
Switzerland	1	0	1
Tanzania	1	0	1
Togo	1	0	1
United Kingdom	5	0	5
United States	1	0	1
Total	105	9	114

Source: Kenya Airways^[1]

Notable passengers

^[1]

• Campbell Utton - CEO MTN Group Cameroon
• Sarah Stewart - CFO MTN Group Cameroon^[23]
• Amol Chauhan - The Director of Parle Products, India^[24]

References

Reconstructing the last moments of Kenya Airways Flight 507 11 May 2007 IHT

External links

• Pre-accident pictures of the aircraft
• Kenya Airways official web site
• Airliner crashes in Cameroon — Houston Chronicle
• Kenya Airways website information
  • 9 May: http://web.archive.org/web/20070509002518/http://84.40.1.214/
  • 13 May: http://web.archive.org/web/20070513121401/http://84.40.1.214/index.html
  • 16 May: http://web.archive.org/web/20070516121429/http://84.40.1.214/