French check Benin black boxes

2004-01-14 07:59

Cotonou - The voice and data recorders from a Boeing 727 that crashed in the west African state of Benin on Christmas Day have been sent to France for examination, police sources said Tuesday.

A Boeing 727 operated by Union des Transports Africains (UTA), which is registered in Guinea, crashed into the sea on takeoff from Cotonou, the main city in Benin, killing 139 of the 161 people on board. Most of the passengers were Lebanese expatriates returning home for the holidays.

A police source in Cotonou told journalists that the black boxes were sent at the weekend to Paris for examination. France sent experts to its former colony following the crash, but Benin does not have the technology to decipher data on flight recorders.

Benin, with the assistance of Lebanon, has launched a full-scale investigation into the crash, the worst in the history of both Beninese and Lebanese civil aviation.

'Eight tons overweight'

Several unofficial sources suggest that the plane was unbalanced and carrying at least eight tons in excess of its capacity, Lebanese media have reported.

Preliminary investigations into the cause of the crash suggest it was due to pilot error.

Meanwhile, Lebanon has told the authorities in Guinea that it wants to question a Lebanese national, allegedly arrested in Conakry recently, in connection with the Christmas Day crash.

"We have received information indicating that Darwish al-Khazem was apprehended in Conakry. We have asked Interpol to inform Guinea that the Lebanese judiciary has decided to interrogate him in connection with the inquiry into the crash in Cotonou," Attorney General Adnane Addoum told the Lebanese press late Monday.

Al-Khazem was among 22 survivors of the crash. One of the bosses of UTA, he was repatriated to Beirut for treatment after the crash but only remained in hospital there briefly before heading to London for talks with Lloyds insurance underwriters, his father Ahmad, a former stake-holder in UTA, has said.

- AFP