Kenya Airways Flight Crashes in Cameroon

Dropped off the radar shortly after takeoff; 114 aboard
By Colleen Barry,  Newser Staff
Posted May 5, 2007 7:00 PM CDT
Kenya Airways Flight Crashes in Cameroon
This image provided by Boeing Aircraft shows a 737-800 in Kenya Airways colors. A Kenya Airways 737-800 crashed in southern Cameroon on Saturday May 5, 2007, state radio reported. The Kenya Airways 737-800 was carrying 106 passengers, eight crew members and a flight engineer, Kenya Airways CEO Titus...   (Associated Press)

A Kenya Airways plane with 114 aboard has disappeared and is believed to have crashed in southern Cameroon. The Kenyan Standard reports that the plane sent out an automated distress signal five minutes after takeoff, and villagers near the suspected crash site say they heard an explosion.

But a search of the mountainous region has thus far failed to turn up wreckage. The plane, a Boeing 737, was only six months old, and the airline's safety record is considered one of Africa's best in spite of a well-publicized crash in 2000 that killed 167. Officials don't yet know what happened. "It simply disappeared from the radar," says Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni. (More Cameroon stories.)

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