The airliner, with 153 people aboard, plunged into the Indian Ocean today. Problems with the plane were pointed out two years ago. Crews found one child alive and continued to search for survivors.
Reporting from Cairo -- A Yemeni Airbus-310 that crashed with 153 people into rough seas off the Comoros island nation in the Indian Ocean today had been flagged for potential safety faults two years ago by the French government.
Military boats and planes fanned out off the capital, Moroni, searching for debris and survivors. The Associated Press reported that one toddler had been pulled alive from the sea. There were no reports of other survivors from Yemenia Airways Flight 626, which was carrying dozens of French nationals from the Yemeni capital of Sana to Moroni when it disappeared in bad weather on its landing approach.
The airliner was inspected in 2007 by French transportation authorities who "noticed a certain number of faults. Since then the plane had not returned to France," Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau was quoted as telling French TV.
"The company was not on the black list but was subject to stricter checks on our part and was due to be interviewed shortly by the European Union's safety committee."
The flight originated in Paris, and passengers changed planes in Sana for the Moroni leg of the journey. The plane was carrying 142 passengers and 11 crew.
"We still do not have information about the reason behind the crash or survivors," Mohammad Sumairi, deputy general manager for Yemenia operations, told Reuters. "The weather conditions were rough: strong wind and high seas. The wind speed recorded on land at the airport was 61 kilometers [38 miles] an hour. There could be other factors."
The Yemen news agency Saba reported: "Preliminary reports blamed the crash on tough weather."
The crash is the second time in a month that an Airbus has slammed into the ocean. All 228 people aboard an Air France Airbus 330 were killed when the plane crashed off the coast of Brazil on June 1.
Comoros, a volcanic archipelago off the eastern coast of Africa, proclaimed its independence from France in 1975. Money sent home by Comoros islanders living in France is an important part of the tiny nation's economy.
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