Crashed jet had been 'banned' in France

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1042841 [headline] => Crashed jet had been 'banned' in France [abstract] => A Yemeni Airbus jet which crashed leaving one survivor out of 153 passengers had reportedly been banned in France due to ‘irregularities’. [keywords] => Yemen, yemenia, plane, airbus, comoros, crash [content] =>

A Yemeni Airbus jet which crashed carrying 153 had reportedly been banned in France due to ‘irregularities’.

One 14-year-old girl was pulled from the sea alive after the crash, and Yemeni authorities said they had seen bodies at the site of the crash in the Indian Ocean between Yemen and the Comoros islands.

The A310 jet had aborted a landing attempt and was making a second attempt when it crashed, officials said.

It was the second time in less than a month that an Airbus has crashed into the ocean. This time French authorities said the Yemeni carrier had been under surveillance and that the 19-year-old jet had been banned from French airspace.

Bodies and wreckage from the Yemenia airline flight were spotted in the sea near the archipelago's capital, Moroni, aviation officials said.

The teenager, who was among the 142 passengers and 11 crew on Flight IY 626 was rescued alive, Ramulati Ben Ali from the local Red Cross told AFP, adding that her condition was "not worrisome".

Arfachad Salim, a rescue coordinator for the Comoros Red Crescent, confirmed she was the only living passenger so far and said local fishermen had also found wreckage, passengers handbags and other effects.

A man identified as one of the girl's rescuers told France's Europe 1 radio that the teenager was seen swimming in choppy waters in the middle of bodies and plane debris around 4am local time.

"We tried to throw a life buoy. She could not grab it. I had to jump in the water to get her," the rescuer said.

"She was shaking, shaking. We put four covers on her. We gave her hot, sugary water. We simply asked her name, village."

There were no reports of other survivors. Officials said the plane crashed into rough seas in darkness, after disappearing from control tower radar screens at 1.51am local time on Tuesday.

"They are saying the plane was making its approach, that it pulled out of the approach and then tried another approach that went wrong," French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau told French radio.

Witnesses told AFP they saw the jet turn back from an attempted landing.

"I saw the plane approach and then go away again, I just could not understand it," said former defence minister Houmed Msaidie, who went to Moroni-Hahaya airport to pick up his mother-in-law.

The flight left Paris on Monday for Marseille and Sanaa, where passengers switched to the older Airbus to continue to Djibouti and Moroni.

Bussereau said French inspectors had in 2007 found numerous faults on the A310 and that the airline was being closely monitored by EU authorities.

"The plane had not since then reappeared in our country," he told i-tele news.

According to an EU legal document, other inspections in Germany and Italy had shown up "deficiencies" with the airline, and in July last year the EU commission had insisted Yemenia provide an "action plan" to address safety concerns.

Yemen's Transport Minister Khaled al-Wazir told AFP the plane was technically sound and had "been overhauled in May 2009 and regularly flew to Europe".

"Only a week back it flew from London," he said.

French civil aviation officials said 66 passengers were French. Many of the passengers were likely to hold dual nationality, however. Three small babies were also among the passengers, officials said.

France sent two navy ships and a plane from its nearby Indian Ocean territories to help the rescue and Madagascar said it was sending a vessel as well.

"Bodies were seen floating on the surface of the water and a fuel slick was also spotted about 16 or 17 nautical miles (30km) from Moroni," senior Yemeni civil aviation official Mohammad Abdel
Kader told reporters in Sanaa.

"Weather conditions were bad," he said. "The sea was rough."

Airbus, which is still reeling from the crash of an Air France A330-320 into the Atlantic on June 1 with 228 people on board, immediately set up a crisis cell and sent investigators to the
Comoros.

No cause has yet been announced for the Air France disaster. The black box flight recorders have yet to be found and their signal is due to stop emitting on July 2.

The European plane maker said the jet which crashed off Moroni was made in 1990 and had been operated by Yemenia since 1999.

Airbus said in a statement the jet had accumulated approximately 51,900 hours in the air from some 17,300 flights.

The Yemenia flight started at Paris Charles de Gaulle on Monday morning, using a more modern Airbus A330-200 for the first legs of the journey.

The plane flew to Marseille in southern France, where there is a large Comoran community, and then went on to Sanaa. There were about 100 passengers on board when it left Marseille, Yemeni civil aviation official Kader said.

In the Yemen capital, people from various Arab states joined the flight and the passengers changed to the Airbus A310 which first flew to Djibouti.
 

[start_date] => 01 July 2009 | 08:51:49 AM [comments_allowed] => 0 [source] => AFP [commentCount] => 0 [video] => [image] => Array ( [caption] => Relatives of passengers killed on the Yemenia airbus react at Marseille airport. (AP) [useRegularImage] => 1 [media_library_id] => 98286 [site_id] => 1 [media_library_group_id] => 0 [media_usage_id] => 0 [filename] => site_1_rand_579917443_yemen_crash_relatives_cry_0107_b_ap.jpg [title] => yemen_crash_relatives_cry_0107_B_AP_579917443 [description] => file:site_1_rand_579917443_yemen_crash_relatives_cry_0107_b_ap.jpg [type] => [height] => 338 [width] => 450 [source] => [video_hi] => [video_lo] => [section] => [display_order] => 0 [create_date] => 2009-07-01 08:57:41 [active] => 1 [media_usage] => Article Large [usageWidth] => 300 [usageHeight] => 225 ) [imagePath] => http://media.sbs.com.au/news/upload_media/ [audio] => [reporter] => [relatedLinks] => Array ( [3] => Array ( [id] => 1042846 [label] => Old plane 'did not cause Yemenia crash' [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [2] => Array ( [id] => 1042506 [label] => Child survivor found after Yemeni plane crash [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [1] => Array ( [id] => 1042391 [label] => Yemen says bodies spotted at plane crash site [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [0] => Array ( [id] => 1042331 [label] => Timeline: Major recent plane crashes [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) ) [relatedArticles] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [article_id] => 1042331 [headline] => Timeline: Major recent plane crashes [abstract] => An Airbus A310 from Yemen with more than 150 people on board crashed into choppy seas as it came in to land on the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros on Tuesday, an airline official said. [content] =>

An Airbus A310 from Yemen with more than 150 people on board crashed into choppy seas as it came in to land on the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros on Tuesday, an airline official said.

It is the second Airbus to plunge into the sea this month. An Air France Airbus A330-200 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing 228 people on board on June 1.

Here are details of recent major plane crashes.

June 30, 2009 - A Yemen Airways aircraft carrying a total of 153 people crashes in the waters of the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros.

June 1 - An Air France Airbus A330-200 jetliner carrying 228 people crashes over the Atlantic. Fifty-one bodies and 600 pieces of wreckage are recovered before the search for survivors is called off on June 26.

May 20 - An Indonesian C130 military transport plane carrying 110 passengers and crew crashes and bursts into flames 6.5 km from the Iswahyudi air force base in East Java while preparing to land, killing 98 people including two on the ground.

Sept. 16, 2008: One-Two-Go, a budget Thai airliner carrying 123 passengers and several crew crashes on landing at the resort island of Phuket. At least 85 of the 123 passengers were killed and five of the seven crew.

Aug. 24 - A Boeing 737-200 belonging to a private Kyrgyz company Itek-Air, chartered by an Iranian company and bound for Iran, crashes at Bishkek airport. Around 70 people, including members of a local teenage basketball team, died.

Aug. 20 - A Spanair MD-82, flying to the Canary Islands with 166 passengers and six crew, crashes on takeoff at Madrid airport killing 154 people. The remaining 18 are seriously injured.

July 17 - A Brazilian TAM passenger plane crashes into buildings when trying to land in Sao Paulo, killing 199 people aboard and on the ground.

May 5 - All 114 people on board a Kenya Airways Boeing 737 are killed after the plane crashed in torrential rain after takeoff from Douala in Cameroon en route to Nairobi.

Oct. 29, 2007 - A Boeing 737 operated by domestic carrier ADC, crashes after take off on a flight from the Nigerian capital Abuja to Sokoto. Only seven of the 106 people aboard the flight survived. Among the dead was Ibrahim Muhammadu, who as Sultan of Sokoto was the leader of the Muslim community.

Sept. 29 - One hundred and fifty-four people are killed when a Boeing 737-800 operated by low-cost Gol airline crashes in the Amazon rain forest.

Jan. 1 - An Indonesian Boeing 737-400 operated by budget carrier Adam Air disappeared from radar screens during a flight from Java to Sulawesi islands. Wreckage was located at sea 10 days later. All 102 passengers and crew were killed.

Aug. 22, 2006 - A Russian Tu-154 operated by Pulkovo Airlines crashes 30 miles (48 km) north of the east Ukrainian town of Donetsk, killing all 170 passengers and crew.

(Additional writing by Gillian Murdoch)

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 30 June 2009 [articletime] => 30 June 2009 [display_order] => 0 ) [1] => Array ( [article_id] => 1042391 [headline] => Yemen says bodies spotted at plane crash site [abstract] => The wreckage of a Yemeni Airbus jet that crashed in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros has been spotted, a Comoros government official says. [content] =>

The wreckage of a Yemeni Airbus jet that crashed in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros has been spotted, a Comoros government official says.

"A small plane flew over the scene and the pilot spotted debris and the craft," said Nourdine Bourhane, the secretary-general of the government on Tuesday.

Yemen's civil aviation authorities said some bodies had also been spotted at the site of the plane crash.

"Bodies were seen floating on the surface of the water and a fuel slick was also spotted about 16 or 17 nautical miles from Moroni," senior civil aviation official Mohammad Abdel Kader told reporters.

The Airbus, belonging to Yemen's national carrier Yemenia, crashed on Tuesday with 153 people on board, mainly French and Comorans, officials said, less than a month after an Air France Airbus plunged into the Atlantic while en route from Brazil to France.

Abdel Kader said three of the passengers were newborn babies, while the 11-member crew was made up of various nationalities.

No Australians are thought to have been on board the flight, a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

"The Australian embassies in Port Louis, Riyadh and Paris are urgently seeking to confirm the reports and determine whether any Australians are on board," she said. "We have not had any suggestions that any Australians were involved.

"Comoros Island authorities have advised the embassy in Port Louis that most passengers are from Comoros Island and France."

Numerous faults noted on crashed jet: French minister

Numerous faults had been noted on the jet and the airline was being closely monitored by French authorities, France's transport minister said.

The airline "was a company that was being very closely monitored" and the plane that crashed had not been flying in French air space because "numerous faults had been noted," Dominique Bussereau told i-tele news.

A Comoran airport official told AFP the plane went down in stormy weather conditions. "The flight was expected at 2230 GMT (0830 AEST, Tuesday).

Before landing the control tower lost communication with the crew," said Hadji Mmadi Ali, the director of Moroni international airport.

"The weather conditions were unfavourable with strong winds," he added.

 

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 30 June 2009 [articletime] => 30 June 2009 [display_order] => 0 ) [2] => Array ( [article_id] => 1042506 [headline] => Child survivor found after Yemeni plane crash [abstract] => Rescuers have found a child survivor of a Yemeni airliner that crashed off the coast of the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros, a hospital official says. [content] =>

Rescuers have found a child survivor of a Yemeni airliner that crashed off the coast of the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros, a hospital official says.

"A child was found alive. He is now on a rescuers' boat," Ben Imani, a doctor at Moroni's main hospital said.

A Comoros Red Cross official confirmed the rescue.

"We have all that is needed - drips, equipment - to assist the child immediately," said Al fachad Salim. It was not immediately clear if the child was the same survivor reported earlier in Sanaa by a Yemenia airline official.

Salim explained that fishermen also found debris, handbags and other personal effects after the plane carrying 153 people, including 11 crew, crashed off the Comoros.

Rescuers were stationed at the shore north of Grande Comores, the largest of the three isles making up the union of Comoros, witnesses said.

The secretary general of the Comoros government Nourdine Bourhane said the control tower had lost control with the crew at around 2300 GMT (0900 AEST) during poor weather.

Government officials have set up a crisis cell at the airport. Comoros state radio had suspended normal programmes and was broadcasting readings of Koran verses. 

Witnesses at the airport said they saw the jet approaching the airport before disappearing. "I saw the plane trying to land. I went into the (arrival) terminal to meet my mother, but there was no plane," Moussa Boina said.

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 1 July 2009 [articletime] => 1 July 2009 [display_order] => 0 ) [3] => Array ( [article_id] => 1042846 [headline] => Old plane 'did not cause Yemenia crash' [abstract] => Planes can keep flying 'indefinitely' as long as they are maintained properly experts say, in the wake of a Yemenia Airbus crash which killed over 100 people.
[content] =>

The Airbus 310 that crashed on Tuesday was 19 years old, yet experts say older planes can keep going strong for years as long as companies are willing to invest what it takes to keep them sky-worthy.

"Aircraft are usually retired due to economics rather than due to wearing out," said Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia, an international aviation safety think tank.

Still, whenever an accident involves an older passenger aircraft, the age of the plane often becomes a focus of speculation about the cause of the crash.

After the crash on Tuesday of a Yemenia jet with 153 people on board near the Comoros islands, some French Comorans questioned the airline's maintenance and safety records. Others said they had been complaining about the airline for years, but authorities brushed off their comments.

But analysts note that most of today's airliners can be kept flying almost indefinitely if regular inspections prescribed by the manufacturer are carried out. Although some airlines highlight in their advertising the newer aircraft in their fleets, newer and older planes tend to have similar safety records.

"This is an older aircraft. But older aircraft can operate safely for decades if provided with proper maintenance," said Capt Harry Eggerschwiler, chief of operations for the African Civil Aviation Authority.

The Airbus A310, the second model designed and manufactured by the European consortium, made its debut in the late 1970s. Deliveries ended 20 years later, when Airbus replaced it with the newer A330 and A320.

During two decades in production, the A310 had a comparable safety record to other jetliners. It earned a reputation among pilots as a relatively forgiving plane, easy to fly and responsive to commands.

Planes with service histories such as the A310 that crashed - with 52,000 flying hours and some 17,000 landing and takeoff cycles - remain common in the inventories of US and European airlines.

Yemenia airways itself has a solid safety record. In 2008 it passed the International Airline Transport Association's operational safety audit, a rigorous set of inspections considered an indication of high quality for any airline.

On Tuesday, the European Union's Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani said in Brussels that the airline had previously met EU safety checks and was not on the their blacklist of unsafe airlines - a blacklist that has over 190 airlines.

He added, however, that a full investigation was being launched amid questions about why the passengers - who originated in Paris - were transferred on another jet in the Yemeni capital of San'a.

"The maintenance record of the plane the Yemeni airline will definitely be examined closely," Voss said.

Yemenia has, however, long been a target of criticism for the poor condition of its passenger cabins. Recent passengers have complained about missing or faulty seat belts. In the 1960s, when it was favoured by hippies flying to eastern Africa, passengers told stories of cabin attendants frying eggs on open fires in the aisles.

Stephane Salord, the Comoros' honorary consul in Marseilles, on Tuesday called the company's aircraft "flying cattle trucks".

Former passenger Mohamed Ali, a Comoran who went to Yemenia's headquarters in Paris to try to get more information on the crash, said sometimes passengers stand all the way from Yemen to the Comoros on the flights.

Still, analysts have cautioned against equating the condition of the passenger cabin on any airline with the aircraft's maintenance records.

One problem that does crop up with older aircraft, particularly when a certain model has been discontinued, is the issue of fake replacement parts.

Airline companies sometimes unwittingly purchase fake parts, which are then put into aircraft by their maintenance crews.

Despite rigorous international efforts to root out fake spares in the past decade, they are still believed to be in circulation.

"Pirate spare parts remain a big maintenance problem in aviation," Eggerschwiler said. "This is true everywhere in the world and not just in (developing) countries."
 

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