Yemen/Comoros/France – plane crash

Crash plane's black box located

Article published on the 2009-07-01 Latest update 2009-07-01 12:59 TU

Relatives of missing passengers of the Yemeni plane wait outside a hospital in Moroni in the Comoros on 30 June, 2009
(Photos: Reuters/Thomas Mukoya)

One of the black box flight recorders from a Yemeni passenger plane that crashed off the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean has been located.

French Minister of State for Co-operation Alain Joyandet said the black box’s signal was located on Tuesday at 4.30pm local time by an aerial patrol. It was found 40 kilometres from Grande Comore. A French patrol ship, the Rieuse, is due to try to retrieve the flight recorder later on Wednesday.

Flight IY 626, which took off from Paris Monday, was carrying 142 passengers and 11 crew members. A 14-year-old girl living in France is the only confirmed survivor so far. She is now recovering in hospital.

Bahia Bakari's father Kassim told French radio that she barely knew how to swim but clung to debris and heard the voices of the rescuers. The girl's mother was also on the flight and Bakari said his daughter had been told her mother survived the crash.

"When I spoke to her she was asking for her mother," he said. "They told her she was in a room next door, so as not to traumatise her. But it's not true. I don't know who is going to tell her."

Joyandet met the girl in hospital on Wednesday and said she would be flown back to France by the government.

French rescue teams continued their search operation, amid conflicting reports that a second child may have survived the crash.

Meanwhile, Yemenia, the national carrier who owns the plane, defended its safety policy. In a statement released on Wednesday, it said it "implements a strict policy to ensure its aircraft are fully operational, with regular maintenance in line with international standards".

The company was responding to Tuesday's claims by French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau that French inspectors had found numerous faults with the Airbus A310-300 in 2007. He also claimed that Yemania was being closely monitored by the European Union.

In response, Yemania criticised what it said was "false information and speculation about technical problems" on the plane. It said the disaster was first in the history of the airline, which was founded in 1961.

Yemania is 51 per cent owned by the Yemeni government and 49 per cent owned by Saudi Arabia.