So Far, Neither Cockpit Recorder Found

Blizzard-like conditions and frigid temperatures have forced search teams trying to reach the wreckage of a downed Boeing 737-200 in the mountains near Kabul, Afghanistan. So far, military and local teams have been unable to recover the flight recorders from the Kam Airlines wreckage as the search for a cause to the accident also continues.

The Thursday night crash claimed all 104 people on board, shortly after the plane, which was trying to land at Kabul, was turned away because of bad weather. As ANN reported, the aircraft went down in the mountains, about 11,000 feet above sea level.

"Nothing is flying yet", said ISAF spokesman Major Karen Tissot van Patot in an interview with AFP Tuesday.

The aircraft, on its way from Herat, in western Afghanistan, to Kabul, went down about 20 miles east of the city. American military officials said for a second day there was no indication that the crew of the civilian jetliner had asked permission to land at the huge Bagram Air Base nearby.

Meanwhile, Afghan officials, who were the last to give up hope, said for the first time on Tuesday that there was virtually no chance anyone could have survived the accident.

"The large amount of fuel in the tank of the plane caused a very huge explosion which makes it hard to recognize both the plane and the bodies. A large percentage of the bodies have been shattered," Defense Ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told AFP.

It was the second accident involving one of the fledgling airline's aircraft. Kam Air was launched in 2003, almost two years after American-led NATO forces invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Last September, the airline's Antonov skidded off a runway at Kabul, causing minor injuries among some of the passengers.

FMI: www.flykamair.com