DFDR dithering
None of us who have lived and worked in the region are surprised at this - there are those that would breathe a sigh of relief if, like so much else on the dark continent, it went 'missing' - irrespective of what it might reveal. The immediate victims of this procrastination are the relatives of the deceased who seek answers to in a small way explain their loss. Longer term, every day that goes by increases the chance that the data will be lost or compromised and lessons that could benefit aviation in general and African aviation in particular, will be lost.
Who are the stakeholders?
- Colonially, Cameroun is culturally tied to France, as Kenya is to the United Kingdom.
- The passengers/relatives: amazingly, there were no Kenyans on the flight, save the crew
- Kenya Airways has some links to the United States, the Netherlands and France through the KLM/Northwest and KLM/Airfrance / Skyteam linkages
- Boeing is of course tied to the United States
- The aircraft lessor may have some influence
Its probably not the sort of issue that would be discussed at the UN, but in sorting through this sordid and unacceptable squabbling, the African Union has a chance to show some statesmanship and resolve the issue in a heartbeat. John Kufuor (the president of Ghana) is the current head of the AU, which is based in Addis. Neither of these countries have a stake. All that is required is that Kenya and Cameroun agree to resolve the dispute at the AU. That is what its for. South Africa might have been an intermediary if it had the equipment, which I don't believe it does (?) but realistically I think there is now only one place for the CVR and the FDR to go: Canada. Canada is close and culturally similar enough to Seattle to satisfy Boeing. It is surely Francophone enough to mollify Cameroun, who hold the cards as the state of occurrence. And its hopefully anglophile enough to satisfy KQs desire for independance. Surely?
Last edited by Pinkman; 20th May 2007 at 07:18.
Reason: Made it slightly less patronising