U.S. sends team to Afghan crash
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The U.S.'s National Transportation Safety Board says it has sent a team to Afghanistan to aid the investigation of last week's plane crash southwest of Kabul.
All 104 passengers and crew died when the Kam Air Boeing 737-200, en route from Herat to Kabul, crashed in mountainous terrain after reportedly being diverted from Kabul due to a snowstorm.
Senior safety board investigator Robert Benzon will lead the five-person team, the NTSB said in a statement Tuesday.
The United States is involved because that is where the plane was made.
The announcement came a day after a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) arrived at the crash site, where they found human remains but no survivors.
The wreckage was spotted Saturday about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south-southeast of Kabul at about 3,300 meters (10,800 feet) elevation by an Apache helicopter from ISAF, which had been leading the search.
The Afghan capital is on a high plateau ringed by mountain peaks.
Flights are often canceled during the winter due to poor visibility.
Kabul's airport does not have advanced radar technology that could help pilots land in bad weather.
Airline President Zimarai Kamgar said the crew consisted of six Russians and two Afghans.
Ninety-six passengers were on board, including nine Turks. A man working for a Dutch engineering company was also believed to be on the flight.
U.S. State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez told CNN there were indications that a total of six Americans was aboard.
This included three female health workers who were on the plane and are presumed dead, their Massachusetts-based company said.
