Yemenia Air plane crashes in Indian Ocean

[Boeing767copilot]

A Yemenia Air plane with at least 150 people on board has crashed in the Indian Ocean, near the Comoros archipelago, a Yemen airport official said Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to media, said the plane was going from the Yemeni capital of San'a to Moroni on the main island of Grand Comore.

The official said Tuesday that most of the passengers on the Airbus 310 were believed to be Comoros residents returning from Paris.

The Associated Press said it was not known how many passengers were on board the Yemenia Air plane, the status of the passengers and crew, or the reason for the crash.

The Comoros is an archipelago of three main islands about 2,900 kilometre south of Yemen, between Africa's southeastern coast and Madagascar. (Google maps)But Reuters, citing an airport official, said there were 153 people on board the plane, including 11 crew members. Earlier, Comoros Vice-President Idi Nadhoim told Reuters from the airport at the main island's capital, Moroni, "there were 150 passengers on board," and that officials still don't know the location of the crash.

Nadhoim said the accident happened in the early hours of Tuesday, but could not provide further details.

A Paris Airport spokeswoman said a Yemenia flight left Paris on Monday morning before landing in Yemen and then taking off for Moroni, Reuters said.

The Comoros is an archipelago of three main islands situated about 2,900 kilometres south of Yemen, between Africa's southeastern coast and Madagascar.

source: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/06/2 ... plane.html

[TCAS]

METAR FMCH 292200Z 18022G33KT 9999 FEW020 24/17 Q1018 NOSIG=
METAR FMCH 292300Z 21025G35KT 9999 FEW020 25/16 Q1017 TEMPO 18015G30KT=
METAR FMCH 300000Z 21025G35KT 9999 FEW020 25/17 Q1016 TEMPO 19014KT=
METAR FMCH 300100Z 16010KT 9999 FEW020 25/13 Q1016 NOSIG=
METAR FMCH 300200Z 18015KT 9999 FEW020 24/15 Q1016 NOSIG=
METAR FMCH 300300Z 24007KT 9999 FEW020 23/14 Q1017 TEMPO 20017KT=

TAF FMCH 291550Z 2918/3024 22018KT 9999 FEW023TCU SCT030 BECMG 2918/2920 12010KT TEMPO 918/3006 20015G25KT BECMG 3006/3008 18015KT TEMPO 3008/3018 18020G30KT=

TAF FMCH 300400Z 3006/0112 20020G30KT 9999 FEW022TCU SCT030 BECMG 3018/3020 18010KT TEMPO 018/0106 17020G30KT TEMPO 0108/0112 17015G25KT 4000 SHRA FEW020CB FEW023TCU BKN025=

Source

See (also) Yemenia Flight 626 (wikipedia)

General Yemenia - Yemen Airways (wikipedia)

Note: official Yemenia - Yemen Airways site is offline (Service Unavailable).

[TCAS]

It is not clear what caused the crash but officials say there was bad weather in the area at the time.

Source

MORONI / Prince SAID IBRAHIM (FMCH) approach plates can be found H E R E

[TCAS]

Child Survivor Found After Ocean Jet Crash

Full article (Sky News)

[stefanel]

TCAS thanks can you please provide the links to the aerodrome charts of airports around the world?
Thanks

[LX-LGX]

reg was 7O-ADJ

first flight 23/03/1990

http://airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-a310-535.htm

[TCAS]

reg was 7O-ADJ

first flight 23/03/1990

http://airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-a310-535.htm

The aircraft involved in the accident, registered under the number 70-ADJ was MSN (Manufacturer Serial Number) 535. It was first delivered from the production line in 1990 and has been operated by Yemenia since October 1999. The aircraft had accumulated approximately 51,900 flight hours in some 17,300 flights. It was powered by Pratt and Whitney engines PW4152.

Source (Airbus Crisis page - Statement)

Yemenia Faced EU Blacklisting After 2007 Plane Fault
By Andrea Rothman and Jonathan Stearns

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Yemenia, the airline that had a fatal crash today in the Indian Ocean, faced possible blacklisting in Europe after France found fault in 2007 with the same Airbus A310 plane involved in the accident.

The Yemeni national carrier was subject to more frequent inspections in Europe after the incident two years ago, according to French and European Union officials. The airline passed checks that could have led to a ban on the continent, European Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani told reporters today in Brussels.

Yemenia was on an EU watchlist because of safety concerns and had not flown A310s into France after a mid-2007 inspection of the plane that crashed, French Transportation Minister Dominique Bussereau said. “This plane had been excluded from the national territory because it represented certain irregularities,” he told members of parliament.

The Yemenia aircraft with 153 people on board came down in the ocean just before it was due to land in the Comoros Islands after taking off from the Arab country’s capital, Sana’a. The cause of the accident hasn’t been determined, though the carrier’s chairman has said weather was to blame. A five-year- old child survived.

‘Strict Surveillance’

“This airline was under strict surveillance,” Bussereau said on France’s i-tele television channel. “It’s a plane that disappeared from French soil following the discovery of numerous faults.”

Full article (Bloomberg.com)

Since 2000 the French lost three (3) hulls, so the French Transportation Minister Dominique Bussereau can better be quiet !!

Why isn't Air France under strict surveillance?
Yeah right, ...... it's within the fat neck ‘Window Dressed’ EASA protected children's garden.

[teddybAIR]

Quote from The Wall Street Journal: "The crew became disoriented and improperly flew the aircraft," according to a person familiar with the investigation.