On Saturday, May 5, 2007, a Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 with the registration number 5Y-KYA crashed in stormy conditions after taking off from MD-Douala International Airport (DLA) in Cameroon. Kenya Airways flight number KQ 507 was a regularly scheduled flight between Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ) and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) with a stop at MD-Douala International Airport (DLA) in Cameroon.
The route of flight KQ 507. Image: GC Maps
After an uneventful flight between the Ivory Coast and Cameroon, Kenya Airways flight KQ 507 was one of three aircraft scheduled to depart Douala around midnight. Royal Air Maroc and Cameroon Airlines operated the other two flights. Intense thunderstorms and heavy rain in the area had delayed all three fights from leaving. While both pilots of the Moroccan and Cameroonian planes decided to wait a little longer, 52-year-old Captain Francis Mbatia Wamwea concluded that the weather had improved enough to leave.
The plane took off into the night without permission
Despite not receiving permission to take off from the tower, Captain Wamwea departed Douala at 00:06 local time. Climbing into the night with no visual references at around 1,000 feet, the captain released the flight controls calling out “Ok,” indicating to the first officer to engage the autopilot. This command was not read back by the co-pilot, suggesting that he had not acknowledged the command.
Now flying without anyone in control, the plane gradually began banking to the right. When the angle reached 34 degrees, the bank angle warning came on, alerting the captain to grab the controls to try and correct the banking. Now at an angle of 50 degrees, it continued increasing with input from the right rudder, taking the angle beyond 90 degrees and sending the plane into a diving spiral. The plane crashed in a mango swamp 12 miles southeast of Douala and was found submerged under mud and…