France Charges Yemen Airline over Deadly 2009 Crash
France has charged Yemenia Airways with manslaughter over a 2009 crash off the Comoros islands in which 152 people were killed, sources said Wednesday.
The Yemen carrier was charged on November 15 in connection with the crash of an Airbus A310 which French authorities have said should not have been allowed to fly, a judicial source said.
All but one of the 142 passengers, who included dozens of French nationals, and 11 crew members, died in the disaster in the Indian Ocean as the craft tried to land in the Comoros capital Moroni.
Only a 14-year-old survived and was rescued from sea.
An association of the families of the victims hailed the move as a huge step towards gaining justice.
"It's the end of four-and-a-half years of contempt, repeated hurdles, cowardice and impunity," it said.
Flight IY 626 had left Paris for Sanaa via Marseille. The passengers were transferred to the older plane in the Yemen capital.
The 19-year-old jet had been banned from French airspace. Dominique Bussereau, who was then transport minister, said after the crash that French inspectors had in 2007 found numerous faults with the A310.
11 years
They keep doing the same mistakes. The person responsible for pictures at Naharnet does not know the difference between a Boeing and an Airbus.
11 years
Yes Captain! The Yemenia Flight 626 was an A310 (7O-ADJ) built in 1990 & was with at least 4 different airlines before it joined Yemenia in 1999- it crashed 10 years later on June 30, 2009... the Air France Flight 447 was an A330 built in 2005 and only operated with Air France- that Crash happened on June 1, 2009 (29 days earlier)... by using the image of the Air France 330 on this article is a crime on it's own!
On another note looks like that's the ME 747-200 with the 80s-90s livery you got in your picture. Sure was easier to hear that 747 on final approach than it was to hear the 707s/720 (even with the Super Q Hush-kits)
11 years
I always wrote to Naharnet about this subject many times to no avail. They had the wrong picture on every single crash report.
It was so easy to get the right picture from Google Images.
11 years
My last flight on MEA B707-320 was in January, 2007, Athens-Beirut. What a sweet flight.
11 years
U'd love to watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVeFQEq_hOE
& this nostalgia of Beirut Airport
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW4VRs_uVZw
11 years
Thank you MaddyBaddy. I enjoyed the videos :)
11 years
Well spotted Maddy, it is exactly as you pointed it out, this plane part is indeed an Air France's, not Yemenia's. At times I wonder how they can do such mistakes in such a major paper.
This picture is mis-leading Naharnet!! You posted about a Yemenia Airways A310 that crashed in 2009... well in 2009 Air France Flight 447 (in the picture above) was the one that crashed off the coast of Brazil.
Air France is NOT Yemenia Airways!! Find a better picture to go with this story