Kenya Airways Flight 431
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Summary | |
---|---|
Date | January 30, 2000 |
Type | Take-off crash |
Site | Off the Côte d'Ivoire |
Fatalities | 169 |
Injuries | 10 |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Airbus A310-304 |
Operator | Kenya Airways |
Tail number | 5Y-BEN |
Passengers | 169 |
Crew | 10 |
Survivors | 10 |
Kenya Airways Flight 431 on January 30, 2000 crashed into the sea at 21:09:24 GMT, shortly after takeoff from Abidjan. There were 179 people on board the Airbus A310 jet aircraft, 169 passengers and 10 crew members. Only 10 passengers survived the crash. Of the 169 fatalities, 146 bodies were recovered. 103 of those bodies were identified.
The flight originated in Nairobi and was meant to stop over in Lagos but flew directly to Abidjan because of weather conditions over Lagos. Harmattan winds coming down from the Sahara to the north had made skies over Lagos unusually hazy on Sunday, and the airport stopped incoming flights. After a three-hour layover, the Kenya Airways Flight 431 took off at 21:08 GMT and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the Côte d'Ivoire one minute later.
[edit] Order of crash
- An errant stall warning sounds immediately after takeoff.
- The pilot put the aircraft into a descent.
- The crew did not apply maximum engine power.
- The ground proximity warning did not sound because the stall warning took precedence.
- Overspeed warning sounds.
- The Captain gives the order to climb.
- The aircraft collides with the sea.
The large number of fatalities is likely due to the fact that passengers did not have ample time to don life jackets. The survivors were clinging to wreckage of the plane - no rafts were inflated.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Site of families of victims. In english and french
- Accident Report
- Entry in the Major Commercial Airline Disasters Index
- CNN article on rescue efforts
- Information on lost personnel from the World Health Organization
- Information on lost personnel from the United Bible Societies
- Information on lost personnel from Wycliffe Bible Translators