MSNBC: Yemeni airliner down in Indian ocean; 150 on board

[Toe Jam]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31638822/ns/world_news-africa/

MORONI, Comoros - An airliner belonging to Yemeni state carrier Yemenia Air crashed in the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros Tuesday with 150 on board, a senior government official said.

click link for more

[Toe Jam]

Air France 447 was an Airbus A330-200.

This flight was an Airbus A310.

Not looking good for Airbus, IMO.

[GibbsFactor]

I might have to take a pass on the next airbus ride. damn they are having a bad run.

[Mickalino]

Air France 447 was an Airbus A330-200.

This flight was an Airbus A310.

Not looking good for Airbus, IMO.


I might have to take a pass on the next airbus ride. damn they are having a bad run.

Well, this IS the Middle East, so you have to seriously look at terrorism as a possibility, especially this early, when they've given no clue to a cause of the crash in the article.

[Toe Jam]

Well, this IS the Middle East, so you have to seriously look at terrorism as a possibility, especially this early, when they've given no clue to a cause of the crash in the article.

dunno about all that.

Airbus is really stinking the airline industry up right now.

[Mickalino]

dunno about all that.

Airbus is really stinking the airline industry up right now.

Okay, Mr Scuba Diving Black Box Recoverer :silly:

[Toe Jam]

Okay, Mr Scuba Diving Black Box Recoverer :silly:

From CNN:

There has been no indication of foul play behind the crash, the officials said.

The crash is the second involving an Airbus jet in a month. On June 1, an Air France Airbus A330 crashed off Brazil while en route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France. All 228 aboard are presumed dead. The cause remains under investigation

[FrFan]

Seems that a child had been found alive. This aircraft was not authorized to fly in France due to bad maintenance and lack of flying forms from Yemenia.
Comorians labelled the Yemenia aircrafts as "flying coffins".

[Elessar78]

They need to study that child for mutant genes of either fast-healing or invincibility.

[Mr. S]

hmm, this looks bad on Airbus and/or the Yemeni airline industry otherwise. It seems in this case, at least from that excerpt above, the airline did not maintain the jet properly.

I hope Airbus doesn't lose business over this, they've been pretty solid otherwise. Their A-680 is slowly being used more often.

[Elessar78]

I kinda do hope they lose business over this to motivate them to make sure their engineering is top notch. I flew in an Airbus yesterday and the AirFrance incident def. crossed my mind.

[Mickalino]

Air France 447 was an Airbus A330-200.

This flight was an Airbus A310.

Not looking good for Airbus, IMO.


From CNN:

There has been no indication of foul play behind the crash, the officials said.

The crash is the second involving an Airbus jet in a month. On June 1, an Air France Airbus A330 crashed off Brazil while en route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France. All 228 aboard are presumed dead. The cause remains under investigation

Reports are saying bad weather was probably a major factor.

[Duckus]

Why is this not a big news story???

I can't even find it on CNN. The Air France crash was on every TV station non-stop for 48 hours. I can't find anything on this.

MSNBC seems to be the only place where this is a headline story.

[Duckus]

Even more interesting, is that this crash has an incredible story of a 14 year old girl (first reported at a 5 year old boy) being found ALIVE after the crash miles from the coast.

For ****s sake, Drudge's headline is about "Obama's Evil Eye" - with photos of "looks" he gives foreign leaders. Foxnews and CNN....nothing besides a small blur at the bottom of their pages.

Why is only MSNBC the only one talking about possibly 150 people dead in a plane crash.

[Heisenberg]

Even more interesting, is that this crash has an incredible story of a 14 year old girl (first reported at a 5 year old boy) being found ALIVE after the crash miles from the coast.

For ****s sake, Drudge's headline is about "Obama's Evil Eye" - with photos of "looks" he gives foreign leaders. Foxnews and CNN....nothing besides a small blur at the bottom of their pages.

Why is only MSNBC the only one talking about possibly 150 people dead in a plane crash.


Were there any Americans on board? If not, that's your answer.

Sucks but that's the way it is.

[Duckus]

Were there any Americans on board? If not, that's your answer.

Sucks but that's the way it is.

I don't think it has much to do with Americans. The Air France crash was a flight from Brazil to France, it got front page news and non-stop media coverage for 48 hours. 2 Americans turned out to be on that flight, but the media did not know that at the time.

Honestly, if this plane is full of anything other than Islamic Africans, I think the world cares a little bit more. Sad ****ing truth.

[PleaseBlitz]

Air France 447 was an Airbus A330-200.

This flight was an Airbus A310.

Not looking good for Airbus, IMO.

So was the one Capt Sullenberger parked in the Hudson.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549


Im seriously not going to fly in a Airbus for a very long while.

[Chamelio Salamander]

Why is this not a big news story???

I can't even find it on CNN. The Air France crash was on every TV station non-stop for 48 hours. I can't find anything on this.

MSNBC seems to be the only place where this is a headline story.

Seriously the only people that died are Africans and Arabs. Two groups that most evangelical republicans want dead anyways.

[hokie4redskins]

Seriously the only people that died are Africans and Arabs. Two groups that most evangelical republicans want dead anyways.


:wtf:

[Mickalino]

Why is this not a big news story???

I can't even find it on CNN. The Air France crash was on every TV station non-stop for 48 hours. I can't find anything on this.

MSNBC seems to be the only place where this is a headline story.


Seriously the only people that died are Africans and Arabs. Two groups that most evangelical republicans want dead anyways.


:wtf:

Kanye West just joined Extremeskins.

So Kanye, since when did "evangelical republicans" control the ENTIRE media ?

[The Brave Little Toaster Oven]

Seriously the only people that died are Africans and Arabs. Two groups that most evangelical republicans want dead anyways.

um, you seem to forget that I love Arab women....so that statement is untrue. :D

[SnyderShrugged]

Seriously the only people that died are Africans and Arabs. Two groups that most evangelical republicans want dead anyways.



I'm not an evangelical nor much of a republican any longer, but that was an uncalled for statement with literally zero basis in fact.

[China]

So was the one Capt Sullenberger parked in the Hudson.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549


Im seriously not going to fly in a Airbus for a very long while.

Because somehow the manufacturer is responsible for birds flying into jet engines, or for the lack of maintenence from users?

[Duckus]

Has anyone heard anymore about the child who supposedly survived the crash? Seems like an absolutely amazing story, if they really survived, and I have not heard much on it.

[FrFan]

Has anyone heard anymore about the child who supposedly survived the crash? Seems like an absolutely amazing story, if they really survived, and I have not heard much on it.

She is 14 and doing well so far.

[Mr. S]

Were there any Americans on board? If not, that's your answer.

Sucks but that's the way it is.

Pretty much. You have Air France v. Yemeni Airlines? Air France is much bigger. Next, no Americans on the plane, why would American media care. It is pretty sad how that is the way it is.

[Toe Jam]

Has anyone heard anymore about the child who supposedly survived the crash? Seems like an absolutely amazing story, if they really survived, and I have not heard much on it.

One would have to assume the plane didn't break up 30,000+ feet in the air. No way anyone survives that.

The plane probably lost a lot of altitude before breaking apart and crashing.

[FrFan]

Flight recorders have been found at 1,000 feet deep and the 14 years old girl doesn't remember what happened.
Unconfirmed info: another child may have survived the crash.
Another article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-06-30-yemen-planecrash_N.htm
"Airbus is a "very fine manufacturer," said University of Southern California safety instructor Michael Barr. "It's up to the operator to maintain an airplane."

[Mickalino]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090701/ap_on_re_mi_ea/yemen_plane_crash

Teen survivor of Comoros crash bruised, conscious

MORONI, Comoros – A bruised teenage girl clung to the wreckage of a Yemeni plane for more than 13 hours before rescuers found her floating in the Indian Ocean, a French official said Wednesday.

There was no word on any other survivors, but French officials said one of the plane's black boxes had been found.

The Yemenia Airbus 310 jet carrying 153 people to island nation of Comoros crashed into the sea early Tuesday as it attempted to land in the dark amid howling winds.

An Associated Press reporter saw 14-year-old Bahia Bakari in a Comoros hospital Wednesday as she was visited by government officials. She was conscious with bruises on her face and a gauze bandage on her elbow.

"It is a true miracle. She is a courageous young girl," Alain Joyandet, France's minister for international cooperation, said at the hospital. "She held onto a piece of the plane from 1:30 a.m to 3:00 p.m. She has lost her mother. Her father arrives tomorrow."

The girl's father told French radio that his daughter was "fragile" and could "barely swim" but managed to hang on.

Kassim Bakari said he spoke with his oldest daughter by phone after Tuesday's crash. Bahia had left Paris on Monday night with her mother to see family in the Comoros.

He said she was ejected and found herself beside the plane.

"She couldn't feel anything, and found herself in the water. She heard people speaking around her but she couldn't see anyone in the darkness," Bakari said on France's RTL radio. "She's a very timid girl, I never thought she would escape like that."

Said Mohammed, a nurse at El Mararouf hospital in the Comoros capital of Moroni, said the girl was doing well and doctors would release more on her condition later Wednesday.

Sgt. Said Abdilai told Europe 1 radio that Bahia was too weak to grasp the life ring rescuers threw to her, so he jumped into the sea to get her. He said rescuers gave the trembling girl warm water with sugar.

The crash a few miles (kilometers) off this island nation came two years after aviation officials reported equipment faults with the plane, an aging Airbus 310 flying the last leg of a Yemenia airlines flight from Paris and Marseille to the Comoros, with a stop in Yemen to change planes.

Most of the passengers were from the Comoros, a former French colony. Sixty-six on board were French nationals.

Turbulence was believed to be a factor in the crash, Yemen's embassy in Washington said.

Gen. Bruno de Bourdoncle de Saint-Salvy, the senior commander for French forces in the southern Indian Ocean, said the Airbus 310 crashed in deep waters about nine miles (14.4 kilometers) north of the Comoran coast and 21 miles (34 kilometers) from the Moroni airport.

A French military cargo plane flew Wednesday over a zone 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Grand Comoros Island, while two inflatable dinghies sent by French forces on La Reunion island combed waters closer to the coast.

"The search is continuing," Joyandet said. "No other survivors have been found for the moment."

Col. Dominique Fontaine, who is managing the rescue operations, said Wednesday that no other debris has been found so far.

A French tug arrived from the French island of Mayotte to recover survivors, corpses and debris, while a French frigate diverted from anti-piracy operations, the Nivose, and another French military ship headed to the scene.

Both France and Airbus sent experts to the Comoros to aid in the investigation.

The tragedy — and dwindling hopes that anyone else made it out alive — prompted an outcry in Comoros, where residents have long complained of a lack of seat belts on Yemenia flights and planes so overcrowded that passengers had to stand in the aisles.

The Comoros, home to some 700,000 people, is an archipelago of three main islands situated 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) south of Yemen, between Africa's southeastern coast and the island of Madagascar.

French aviation inspectors found a "number of faults" in the plane's equipment during a 2007 inspection, French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau said.

European Union Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani said the airline had previously met EU safety checks but would now face a full investigation amid questions why passengers were put on another jet in the Yemeni capital of San'a.

The vice president of Comoros criticized French officials for not telling his nation about any suspected problems.

"We wish the French could have informed us of any irregularity or any problems with that plane," Idi Nadhoim said Wednesday on France-24 television.

"Most if not all of the planes of Yemenia are Airbus," he said. "They are supposed to be serviced by Airbus."

"We trust the civil aviation authorities of the countries we are working with," he added, suggesting that French authorities discriminated against "those French who are left by themselves to fly this type of plane" — French citizens from former French colonies.

Airbus said the plane that crashed went into service 19 years ago, in 1990, and had accumulated 51,900 flight hours. It has been operated by Yemenia since 1999.

[FrFan]

The girl suffers from a broken clavicle and minor knee burns. She said (as reported by his father) she just remember the plane crashing in the water, and holding onto a piece of wreckage before being rescued.
Frequent Yemenia flyers testified that these aircrafts were dangerous, talking about sudden power shortages and sudden releases of O² masks without reason. French minister said this company did the minimum maintenance to avoid being black listed in Europe.

[DeanCollins]

Seems that a child had been found alive. This aircraft was not authorized to fly in France due to bad maintenance and lack of flying forms from Yemenia.
Comorians labelled the Yemenia aircrafts as "flying coffins".

yes, how can some of you condemn Airbus when a storm was certainly a factor in the SA crash and this one is suspect because of maintanence issues?

[FrFan]

The girl is recovering memory, she just said that there was an electrical shock before the plane crashed.
By the way her name, Baya, means luck in comorian language.