Small Plane Crashes At Opa-locka Airport

A Piper banner plane crashed at Opa-locka Executive Airport on Wednesday night, but the 28-year-old pilot was not injured.

Kevin Hochstetler works for a Washington-based company flying promotional banners. He was coming in for a landing when the plane got tangled in the banner and crashed.

"The only thing that I can remember is seeing some water splashing around in the cockpit, seeing the ground coming up and knowing that I was probably going over," Hochstetler said. "I'm kind of surprised I didn't, but I just thank the lord that I was safe."

His wife, Allegra Hochstetler, was watching when the plane crash-landed.

"I saw the banner drop and then I saw his nose go in," she said. "I was screaming and yelling, and then I ran out there and he jumped out of the plane. I'm really glad he's OK."

The nose of the plane was burrowed in the field near the runway while its tail dangled precariously in the air. Hochstetler was the only person on board when it crashed.

Source: WPLG Click10.com via Yahoo! News Read More..

Prosecutors call for closure of San Paulo airport after crash

The Sao Paulo's domestic airport will immediate closure because of the country's worst air disaster. The passenger plane was forced to abort its landing too.

The Sao Paulo's governor, Jose Serra, as reported in Guardian Unlimited admitted that the volume of air traffic at Congonhas, Brazil's busiest airport, needed to be drastically reduced following Tuesday night's accident, in which a plane belonging to Brazil's TAM airline veered off the runway, hit a nearby warehouse and exploded, killing all 186 people on board and three on the ground.

Video footage of the landing appeared to show Flight 3054 accelerating as it hit the notoriously short runway. Authorities said they believed the pilot had been trying abort his landing and take off again just before impact.

Rescue workers were forced to suspend the search for victims because of fears that the building at the crash scene was about to collapse. By early this morning, when the search was interrupted, authorities had confirmed 183 deaths. Fire chief Nilton Miranda told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper he expected to find at least 20 more bodies inside of the warehouse. Four Europeans citizens, three from France and one from Portugal, were reportedly among those onboard the flight from the southern city of Porto Alegre.

Congonhas airport is renowned for its short runways. Pilots are instructed to touch down within the first 1,000ft (300m), or pull up and circle round again. Yesterday, another TAM airline jet was rerouted to the city's international airport after coming in at an unsafe angle.

Federal prosecutors said in a statement: "It is necessary to temporarily paralyse the activities at the Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo until a complete renovation of both of its runways can be completed and there is certainty that they are fully secure for full operations." Shutting the airport would have knock-on effects on flights throughout Latin America.

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Pilot skill need for dealing airline runway problem

More of pilot skil is needed to reduce the airplane crash because of the runway problem in some airline.

Most of airplane crash are because of the presence of water, slush, snow, rubber deposits or other materials on runways. That called as Runway contamination. Runway contamination has become a source of growing concern as airports become clogged with an ever-increasing number of takeoffs and landings.

As reported in "Runway Contamination" Causing Crashes by Slobodan Lekic, an Associated Press writer, the runway problem may have played a role in Tuesday's crash of an Airbus 320 at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport.

To deal this runway problem, some of the good act that can be taken is by increasing the pilot skill. Because beside the airline itself, this is also the pilot who can reduce the airplane crash.

The example of airplane crash caused by runway, are in 2005, an Air France Airbus 340 shot off a wet runway at Toronto airport after touchdown, and caught fire. All 309 people on board survived. The other one is a Southwest Airlines plane skidded off a runway at Chicago's Midway International Airport and careered through an airport fence.
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Plane crash in heavy foggy rain

Bad weather has cause an airplane to crash yesterday as reported in Berkshire Eagle. The airplane crash was reported by a local resident at about 8:15 a.m.

Before the air traffic controllers at Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Conn., reported losing radio and radar contact with the plane and pilot, according to FAA spokesman Jim Peters.

Peters said Bradley's air traffic controllers received no word of trouble from the pilot before communication was lost, about 12 miles south of a radar site in Chester, located about 20 miles east of Tyringham. At that point, the plane was at 12,000 feet, said Peters.

It's not yet clear if heavy thunderstorms rolling through the area yesterday morning played a part in the crash, but for Elizabeth Elliott, of 68 George Cannon Road, the link seemed apparent.

The plane which crash, is a 1968 Piper Cherokee fixed-wing, single engine craft, was registered to Hartley Marine Services in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, of which Gregg Hartley is named as president.

The FAA spokesman Jim Peters said a flight plan was filed with the FAA prior to the flight, which originated yesterday morning from an airport in Wiscasett, Maine. There were conflicting reports yesterday on whether the plane was heading for Albany or the Columbia County Airport in Hudson.

The full of this article's can be read on the source at: Berkshire Eagle Read More..

Pilot walks for help after crash near Paine Field

Reported at Everett Herald that a pilot walked to help this morning after his plane crashed just north of Paine Field, as the police said.

The man, 41, was approaching the runway in the Piper Pa-12 he was flying when the plane lost power at about 7 a.m. and crashed into some trees north of the airport, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.

"He amazingly walked away," Goetz said.

The accident occurred near the 4200 block of 78th Street W. Mukilteo firefighters took the man to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, Goetz said.

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration were headed to the airport this morning to investigate the crash.

This is the second crash in less than a month at Paine Field. A pilot of an experimental plane experienced some trouble and attempted to land at the airfield two weeks ago. He crashed into a fence and the plane flipped over. The pilot was pulled from the wreckage by three bystanders.

Source at: Everett Herald Read More..

Cambodia plane crash, no survivors

Cambodia plane has crash with no survivors, as confirmed by Information Minister Khieu Kanharith.

This airplane was crash on monday. The tragedy happen when a storm has occured between Siem Reap - site of the famed Angkor Wat temple complex - and Sihanoukville on the south coast. This plane is a Russian-made An-24 aircraft, operated by PMT Air.

A helicopter spotted the crash site early on Wednesday morning after about 1,000 soldiers and police mounted an urgent two-day search through treacherous jungle in rainy monsoon weather.

According to provincial Deputy Governor Khoy Khun Huor, the plane's wreckage was found in high jungle on Phnom Damrey or Elephant Mountain, northeast of Bokor Mountain in Kampot,

The data recorder from the black box will be send to Russia for further analisys, as rescuers have retrieved the plane's "black box" flight data recorder, which could hold crucial information about possible causes of the crash, said by Sith Sakal, head of security at Cambodia's Secretariat of Civil Aviation.

Searchers found the wrecked plane on a remote southern mountain early on Wednesday morning. And the bodies of 22 plane crash victims, including South Korean and Czech tourists, arrived by helicopter in Phnom Penh after being retrieved from a mountainside jungle.

Associated Press
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Crash victims' love for flying is recalled

TAYLORSVILLE -- Two Alexander County men who died in a plane crash Thursday were remembered by family and friends Friday for their love of flying and desire to live life to the fullest.

Dr. Walter Long Jr. and Benny Hall Sharpe, both of Taylorsville, were killed Thursday when Long's small, single-engine plane crashed on a rural airfield and skidded into trees lining the grassy runway.

"It was Dr. Long's dream to get a plane and fly when he retired," said Mary Overton, a nurse who worked with Long for nearly 40 years. "He just loved being outside and making the most of his life."

Aviation officials Friday were investigating the wreck and expected to complete a preliminary report within 10 days, said Paul Cox, senior air safety investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board. It could take a year, Cox said, before the final investigation report is released.

The men, said friend and Statesville-based pilot Phil Hazel, were taking the Cessna 182C -- formerly owned by Dale Earnhardt, according to Observer news partner WCNC -- for a leisurely flight on a clear day. They had planned to return to the Taylorsville Airport, where their cars were parked, he said.

Long, a 75-year-old former physician, and Sharpe, a 70-year-old retired Piedmont Airlines and U.S. Airways pilot, loved flying and traveling, especially across the open wilderness of Alaska and Canada, family and friends said.

After Long retired from a nearly 40-year career as a family practitioner, he began plotting long journeys across the nearly untouched parts of North America, said Dr. Russell Faulkenberry, Long's former partner at Family Care Center in Taylorsville.

Often, usually in the early fall, Faulkenberry said, Long and his wife, Mary, would pack up their camper and head north.

"They'd drive as far as they could go, even after the road ended," Faulkenberry said. "He lived to be physically active. He was a brilliant man, and he found the world interesting."

Sharpe, too, had spent time exploring the north's rough terrain. In the early 1990s, before Sharpe retired from a nearly 25-year career as a commercial airline pilot, he bought a seaplane and mapped out, stop-by-stop, a trip over the Rocky Mountains, into Canada and across the Arctic Circle and Nova Scotia.

"He's the most methodical person I've ever seen in a plane," said his nephew, John Sharpe. "Uncle Benny flying, well, he was a perfectionist."

That attention to detail, said Sharpe's daughter, 45-year-old Constance Sharpe, was consistent in everything her father did.

"He understood the responsibility that came with the job he had, and from that perspective he taught us how to be responsible and independent," she said. "I'm proud to say I'm just like him."

By MARCIE YOUNG. Contact: myoung@charlotteobserver.com
Source: Charlotte.com Read More..

Investigators looking into Lansing crash

An investigation is ongoing as officials try to determine what caused a single-engine plane to go down in Lansing on Saturday night.

The 41-year-old pilot from Flossmoor was airlifted to St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields with a possible broken arm and was complaining of chest pains, a trooper with Illinois State Police said.

According to a witness, the plane took off from Lansing Municipal Airport and the engine immediately began to sputter, the trooper said. About 8:15 p.m., the plane descended toward the Lansing Country Club and clipped a tree before landing on the grounds of the club.

Authorities said he was practicing takeoffs and landings at the airport. A preliminary investigation reveals the pilot was the only person on the plane at the time.

The accident happened near 186th Street and Wentworth Avenue shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday.

By Duaa Eldeib Staff writer
Duaa Eldeib may be reached at deldeib@dailysouthtown.com or (708) 633-5960.
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Geese-strike grounds flight to America

About 260 passengers had their travel plans delayed last night when their flight to San Francisco was forced back after striking geese shortly after takeoff.

Air New Zealand spokesman David Jamieson said the Boeing 777 had just taken off from Auckland Airport when the plane hit the geese.

The birdstrike damaged the plane's radome, or weather radar in the aircraft's nose, and forced the pilot to return to the airport.

Bird strike incidents were relatively rare, Mr Jamieson said.

"Usually the birds move out of the way pretty quickly when they see big jets like these coming their way."

Mr Jamieson said passengers waited in transit as engineers worked on the damaged gear.

The full of this article's can be read on the source at: The New Zealand Herald Read More..

Inquiries start into plane's belly-landing

Two investigations are under way after an Air New Zealand aircraft was forced to belly-land at Blenheim yesterday.

The Beechcraft 1900D, operated by Eagle Air, was on a flight from Timaru to Wellington with 15 passengers and two crew on board.

It circled Wellington Airport several times when its landing gear failed to come down, then headed to Blenheim, where it circled for almost an hour before belly-landing on the runway at 9.15am.

The captain, an experienced Eagle Air pilot, performed a wheels-up landing and the aircraft was doused in foam by emergency crews.

The landing was described as textbook, and the 17 occupants walked away from the aircraft safely, although two were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.

Fire crew from the nearby Woodbourne Air Force base were alerted to the problem and were among emergency personnel on alert.

The landing is being investigated by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission and Eagle Air.

Eagle Air general manager Doug Roberts said safety was paramount and non-negotiable for his airline.

"Our pilots undergo some of the most extensive training in the industry and dealing with emergency situations like this is a cornerstone of their training.

"Our initial assessment is that the crew did an excellent job of executing a textbook wheels-up landing in thecircumstances."

He said Eagle Air had already launched an internal investigation and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission has already started its inquiry.

A special support team was flown to Blenheim to offer further assistance to those on the flight.

About 60 grounded passengers, whose flights were suspended, watched from the terminal as debris broke off from the plane as it landed.

Seconds later, emergency services from Renwick, Blenheim and Woodbourne rushed to the aircraft.

The 15 passengers, including a pregnant woman, and the two pilots were taken away in a bus to another part of the airport.

Three Victim Support workers were on hand to assist the shaken passengers.

Passenger Derek Zandbergen said travellers were told as the plane came into Wellington there was a problem with the landing gear. People did not panic, but the atmosphere in the cabin was subdued, he said.

The full of this article's can be read on the source at: The New Zealand Herald Read More..

Cockpit Voice Recorder Found In Kenya Airways Crash

Recorder Being Taken To Canada For Analysis
Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni confirmed Friday the cockpit voice recorder of Flight 507 that crashed in Cameroon May 5 killing all 114 aboard was uncovered by a joint investigation team at the crash site in Douala.

Arrangements were being made over the weekend to bring the recorder to Canada, according to the Associated Press.

Twenty-two Cameroon firemen, eight motor pumps operators, and a Cameroon accident investigation team and the Kenyan team, comprising the joint investigation team, also recovered additional engine parts, including fan blades, according to Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

Last week a team of US investigators reported picking up signals of the device. Analysis of the voice recorder could disclose the recordings of the flight deck conversations between the crew as well as conversations with the control tower in Douala.

As Aero-News first reported, Flight KQ 507 was bound for Nairobi and went missing shortly after takeoff from Douala.

The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 106 passengers, eight crew members and a flight engineer. Kenya Airway's Naikuni had said the plane took off an hour late because of rain; Douala airport officials confirmed thunderstorms at the time, but said that was unlikely to have been the sole cause of the accident.

A preliminary review of the analysis of the plane's data recorder, which was found last month, showed no evidence of a mechanical malfunction, according to the Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority. A full report of what led to the crash, according to the authority, could take as long as a year.

The preliminary investigation also found that all crew members were sufficiently trained and certified according to expected aviation guidelines.

FMI: www.kenya-airways.com, www.kcaa.or.ke
Read more on the source at: The Aero-News Network Read More..

Home-built plane crashes in Livermore; two dead

Two people aboard a small airplane died this morning when their home-built Europa XS crashed short of a Livermore Municipal Airport runway.

The aircraft took off from Livermore around 8:30 a.m. and got about 200 to 300 feet off the ground when the pilot made a 180-degree turn in an apparent attempt to come back to the airport, said Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.

The plane crashed about 25 yards short of the runway, bursting into flames. The pilot did not file a flight plan, nor did he or she have communications with the air traffic control tower after takeoff, Gregor said. FAA investigators are en route to the crash scene.

The full of this article's can be read on the source at: www.mercurynews.com Read More..

Cockpit Recorder Found in Cameroon Crash

NAIROBI, Kenya A search team has found the cockpit voice recorder of a Kenya Airways plane that crashed in Cameroon last month, killing 114 people, the airline's chief executive officer said.

The voice recorder was found Friday afternoon and Cameroonian authorities are now making arrangements to get it to Canada as soon as possible, Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni said in a brief statement late Friday.

When it is analyzed, the voice recorder is expected to reveal the final exchanges between the plane's captain and his co-pilot and also any conversations with the control tower in Cameroon's commercial capital of Douala.

The Kenya Airways flight nose-dived into a swamp in the West African country less than two minutes after taking off from Douala on a stormy night May 5. The Boeing 737-800 had been bound for Kenya.

The plane's data recorder was found last month and taken to Canada for analysis. A preliminary review showed no evidence of a mechanical malfunction, the Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement posted on its Web site Friday.

The authority said a full report of what led to the crash will take as long as a year.

The preliminary investigation found that all crew members were sufficiently trained and certified according to expected aviation guidelines, the statement said.

Though the flight was delayed about an hour because of thunderstorms and heavy rain, the preliminary report suggested that conditions had cleared by the time the plane took off.

By TOM MALITI, Associated Press Writer
The full of this article's can be read on the source at: www.dailycomet.com Read More..

Jet bound for Phoenix makes emergency landing in Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A US Airways flight from Newark, N.J. had to make an emergency landing in Louisville, Ky.

Airline spokesman Phil Gee says Flight 688 was headed to Phoenix with 137 passengers and five crew members aboard when one of the plane's two engines quit last night.

Gee says the plane could have operated on one engine, but the pilot wanted to play it safe.

The plane landed safely and there were no injuries.

Gee says passengers spent the night in Louisville and are to fly out late this morning.

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Jet bound for Phoenix makes emergency landing in Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A US Airways flight from Newark, N.J. had to make an emergency landing in Louisville, Ky.

Airline spokesman Phil Gee says Flight 688 was headed to Phoenix with 137 passengers and five crew members aboard when one of the plane's two engines quit last night.

Gee says the plane could have operated on one engine, but the pilot wanted to play it safe. The plane landed safely and there were no injuries. Gee says passengers spent the night in Louisville and are to fly out late this morning.

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Bosnia to analyse bodies of Kenya Airways crash victims

Human remains gathered at the site of the Kenya Airways crash in Cameroon will under-go DNA testing in Bosnia to match fragmented parts to one another, the airline says..

All 114 people on board died when the flight between Douala and Nairobi crashed in remote swampland in the West African country on May 5.

Seven South Africans were among them.

The aircraft's black box will be analysed in Canada.

Kenya Airways spokesman Michael Okwiri said yesterday that the airline had compensated the families of passengers who were killed.

"Kenya Airways is not in a position to divulge the amounts that the next of kin have re-ceived," said Okwiri.

Source: www.capeargus.co.za Read More..

NTSB Preliminary Report Gives More Insight Into Crash

While the National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the midair collision of two small planes over Sharonville, a recording of the radio transmissions from both planes also sheds more light on the accident.

The NTSB filed one report for each plane involved, but many of the details are the same:

"No pre-impact anomalies were detected during the examination of either airplane." "The radar data showed that about 1902, the airplanes' radar returns came together." A witness told investigators, "I looked out my window right in front of my desk after [a co-worker] said 'Oh My God.' I then saw the two planes within about 1/2 mile apart and heading in a direction towards each other but not directly head on. When the planes were very close, ... both rolled inside towards each other and that is when the wings clipped each other."

University of Dayton professor and local flight instructor Andrew Sarangan said he has a scanner at home that continuously records all neighborhood airport frequencies.

On May 11, his recording caught transmissions from the two pilots involved in the crash. As there is no control tower at the Blue Ash Airport, the transmissions are designed to notify other planes in the area of each pilot's intentions.

While the transmissions sound like they take place within seconds of each other, Sarangan said that the recording program stops recording when there is no transmission, so there's no way to know how close the transmissions took place.

Niels Harpsoe: "Blue Ash traffic, Bonanza 1835 Lima is five miles north of the field. We'll be entering left downwind runway 6."

David Woeste: "Blue Ash traffic, Cessna 6614D has just departed Runway 6, now departing on heading 320, climbing through 2,100 feet. We'll be looking for the Bonanza on the inbound."

Niels Harpsoe: "Blue Ash traffic, Bonanza 35 Lima, four miles to the field at 3,000 feet. We'll be entering left downwind Runway 6."

The tape indicates that Harpsoe's Bonanza was preparing to land at Blue Ash, while Woeste's Cessna was taking off.

After Harpsoe's last clear transmission, there is a brief squelch with someone talking in the background, which may have happened when the planes collided over Sharonville.

A full report from the NTSB could take a year to complete.

Pilots Looked For Each Other Before Crash

Source: Yahoo! News Read More..

Air crash tragedy hits hard at Oshawa company

OSHAWA -- Three Durham men, two of them brothers, were killed when their small plane crashed in a wooded area in western New York Thursday morning.

Brothers Frank Grieco, 56, and Joseph Grieco, 59, managers of P.R. Engineering Ltd. in Oshawa, were on their way to Wilmington, Delaware on a business trip when their twin-propeller plane began experiencing engine troubles and crashed near Dunkirk, New York, around 9:30 a.m. Max Hudson, 55, of Pickering, who co-owned the plane with Joseph Grieco, also died.

The three men departed Oshawa airport shortly after 8 a.m. in the twin-engine Beech Baron aircraft. According to reports from Associated Press, the pilot of the plane reported problems with an engine and requested clearance to land at the airstrip in Dunkirk, a town on Lake Erie near Buffalo.

The plane overshot the runway and crashed in a wooded area, according to reports. All three men aboard died.

The tragedy has struck hard at P.R. Engineering, an Oshawa company that specializes in manufacturing and repairing rock crushers and other heavy machinery, as well as specialty welding.

"It's a very small family run business," said Jackie Fraser, who answered the phone at the company's Toronto Street premises Friday. "It's like a family."

P.R. Engineering employs about 35 people, Ms. Fraser said. The Grieco brothers -- Frank lived in Whitby, Joseph in Oshawa -- were vice presidents of the firm.

Relatives of the victims aren't commenting and Ms. Fraser said all that's known about the crash is what has been released by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the accident.

Ms. Fraser said the three men were on their way to Delaware on business when the crash occurred. She said she didn't know who was flying the plane.

Source: www.durhamregion.com Read More..

President Mwai Kibaki leads the nation in special prayers

President Mwai Kibaki on Monday led the nation in observing the national day of mourning and prayer in memory of the 114 people who died in the Kenya Airways plane crash in Cameroon.

Conveying his sympathies to the bereaved families, President Kibaki assured all that his Government is working closely with the Cameroonian authorities and international investigators in order to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the circumstances that led to the plane crash.

"As a nation, we are united in grief with 26 other countries whose nationals perished in the tragic plane crash. I therefore wish to begin by once again conveying my most heartfelt condolences to the family members, friends and colleagues of the passengers and crew who died in the tragic plane crash," the President said.

The President was speaking during the inter-faith memorial service at Kenyatta International Conference Centre.

President Kibaki at the same time condemned the recent skirmishes in parts of the country that resulted into loss of life saying the Government abhorred the unnecessary deaths and suffering caused by conflicts between neighbouring communities.

He warned that the Government would take firm steps against those who perpetrate or incite others to attack their neighbours with whom they have lived together peacefully.

Saying the recent incidents of violence witnessed in Mount Elgon, Trans Nzoia, Tana River and Molo districts leading to unwarranted loss of innocent lives are a source of great concern to him personally, the President emphasized that the Government is committed to ending such acts of wanton violence and destruction of human life and property.

"Life is valuable and anybody who takes away the life of another person should expect no mercy from my Government," the Head of State emphasized.

He noted that the loss of a family member under circumstances that could have been avoided such as motor vehicle accidents, preventable diseases such as malaria and violent crime is a most painful experience.

"It also robs the families and indeed the nation of valuable contributors to the development of their communities and the nation as a whole," President Kibaki said.

In this connection, President Kibaki urged all Kenyans to join the Government in ending communal violence by co-existing with one another in peace and social harmony.

On the Kenya airways tragedy, President Kibaki said Kenyans are keenly awaiting complete answers regarding the cause of the tragedy and appealed for tolerance and patience while investigations are going on.

The President also urged all to avoid unnecessary speculation that could increase the anxiety and grief to the bereaved families.

"In the spirit of our open and caring society, my Government will continue to provide all the necessary support to the bereaved families and to avail to the public all information regarding the tragedy," President Kibaki said.

The President recalled that following the plane crash, his Government responded promptly to the tragedy and has continued to work closely with Kenya Airways and the Cameroonian authorities to provide the necessary information and assistance to the bereaved families.

He added that the Government also dispatched a team of experts to undertake investigations as well as the recovery and identification of the remains of the crash victims.

"I am pleased to note that Kenya Airways has facilitated the family members of the deceased to travel to Douala, Cameroon, to assist in the identification of their beloved ones," the President said.

Once again, the President reassured all Kenyans and the international community at large that the national carrier is among the safest airlines in the world.


He said the Kenya Airports Authority and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority have continued to meet the required international standards in terms of modernization of the country's airports, the maintenance of aircrafts and the quality of training of airline personnel.

The Head of State called on all Kenyans to remember and support those families who have also lost loved ones through accidents, violent crime, diseases and other calamities as they pray for the families, relatives and friends of those who lost their loved ones in the Kenya Airways plane crash.

President said Kenyans should unite in praying for such families to receive God's consolation and strength to overcome the adversities that have befallen them.

As the special prayers for the victims of the Kenya Airways plane crash and their bereaved families are conducted countrywide, President Kibaki expressed hope that this occasion will also bring to mind the plight of many other Kenyans who are needy and disadvantaged.

"Let us strive to provide material, emotional and moral support to those among us who are undergoing various difficulties," the President said.

Other speakers included Vice-President Moody Awori, Internal Security Minister John Michuki and the Kenya Airways Chairman Mr. Evanson Mwaniki among others.

Source: Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Read More..

Memorial for 114 Dead in Kenya Air Crash

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Kenya's president joined thousands Monday at an interfaith memorial service in the Kenyan capital for 114 victims of a plane crash in Cameroon.

Relatives of nine Kenya Airways crew members lit candles in memory of their loved ones against a background of small paper flags representing 27 countries whose nationals perished in the crash.

On stage was a montage of the 27 flags circling photos of the nine crew members who died when, on May 5, a Kenya-bound Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 nose-dived into a swamp seconds after taking off from Cameroon's commercial capital, Douala. All 114 people on board died.

The passengers included Cameroonian merchants, an American AIDS expert, businesspeople from China, India and South Africa, a Tanzanian returning from peacekeeping duties in Ivory Coast and a U.N. refugee worker from Togo. Anthony Mitchell, a Nairobi-based correspondent for The Associated Press, was among the victims.

A children's group of the Hindu Council of Kenya and three choirs from different Christian denominations sang hymns before speeches.

"A light has gone out of your life and there is darkness. We share the trauma of your pain and loss ... We will do all we can to ease the unfathomable pain," the families are undergoing, said Kenya Airways Chairman Evanson Mwaniki.

"As a nation, we are united in grief with 26 other countries whose nationals perished in the tragic plane crash," President Mwai Kibaki told those gathered. "It is often the case that following such tragic events, family members ask many questions which may not have immediate satisfactory answers ... As humans, we can only share the grief with those who have been directly affected by this calamity. It is God who is able to reach deep into their hearts and minds in order to give them courage and strength to overcome the pain."

Hindu, Muslim and Christian religious leaders all said prayers to close the service.

Source: www.cbs8.com Read More..