Faulty data recorder blamed for delay in Ivory Coast air crash probe

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (Reuters) -- Investigations into why a Kenya Airways plane plunged into the sea off Ivory Coast in January, killing 169 people, are being hampered because of a faulty flight-data recorder, a transport safety spokesman said on Saturday.

The Airbus A-130 plane crashed into the sea within moments of taking off from the airport in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan on January 30. No official explanation has been given on what may have caused the crash.

Jean-Pierre Arsenaux, spokesman for Canada's transport safety office which is deciphering the two data recorders recovered from the wreckage, told Radio France International that one of them had failed to record any data.

"No one has wiped the contents of the tape; the tape...recorded nothing -- it was not working, even before the crash," Arsenaux said.

Only 10 people out of 169 passengers and crew survived the crash. Many of the passengers on board the plane were Nigerians who were diverted to Abidjan because of weather conditions in Lagos.

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