I agree Mike. I lived there '94 / '95 and worked with and met many of the expatriate and local KQ guys - including Brian Davies of Speedwing Consulting - who were trying desperately hard to take it up the ladder. People bang on about SAA and yes, SAA is a success story in a way, but it had the whole South African economy behind it. Brian and his team were on their own had two really knackered 732s that were pulled out of desert storage, 3 F50s, and I think a couple of A300s. They managed - somehow - to build an infrastructure again from the ruins, change a culture and float the company on the Nairobi Stock exchange - the first airline in Africa to do so. The KLM/NW tie up marked that final step on the ladder. The Abidjan and now Douala accidents are just so damned frustrating. I just hope the Douala investigation is more definitive than Abidjan (CFIT into the Ocean) which, on reading leaves you with a vague feeling that there are several questions unanswered. At this stage, the parallels with this incident are tragically similar. Many posters have given their condolences and I'd add my sympathy to the guys at KQ who must be feeling really gutted. We're thinking of you.
PM