Wreckage of Missing Kenya Jetliner Found

This image provided by Boeing Aircraft shows a 737-800 in Kenya Airways colors. A Kenya Airways 737-800 crashed in southern Cameroon on Saturday May 5, 2007, state radio reported. (The Boeing Company - AP)

The drenching rains also might have camouflaged the smoldering wreck in the nighttime hours immediately after the crash.

Among the passengers on Flight 507 was Nairobi-based Associated Press correspondent Anthony Mitchell, one of five Britons on a passenger list released Sunday by the airline. Mitchell had been on assignment in the region.

Other passengers include executives from the South African cell phone giant MTN and the nephew of Indian tycoon Ramesh Chauhan, the owner of Parle Products, a leading manufacturer of cookies in India.

Family members gathered at the Nairobi and Douala airports, many openly weeping.

"Oh my last born, my last born, where am I going to go?" Kezzia Musimbi Kadurenge, the mother of a missing crew member, said in Kenya. "I'm finished."

Officials said it was too early to tell what caused the plane to go down so quickly after takeoff.

"Whatever happened must have happened very fast, which is usually a sign of catastrophic structural failure," said Patrick Smith, a U.S. based-airline pilot and aviation expert.

"A plane never takes off into a thunderstorm, no crew or carrier would allow that," he said. "But it is remotely possible that the plane could have inadvertently gone into some extremely turbulent air and suffered massive hail damage or a sudden structural failure.

One of the many unanswered questions is why the plane stopped emitting signals after an initial distress call. The plane is equipped with an automatic device that should have kept up emissions for another two days.

"Why the signal is not being heard right now, we're not quite sure," Naikuni said Saturday.

An exhausted battery could be one reason, said Capt. Paul Mwangi, head of operations for Kenya Airways.

"It is very unlikely, but the device can actually be destroyed. The impact would have to be very, very severe," he said.