Black boxes in Comoros plane crash too deep for divers, French official says

September 4th, 2009 Black boxes from Yemenia Airways flight damagedPARIS — A Comoran investigator says the black boxes from a Yemenia Airways flight that crashed into the Indian Ocean in June are damaged. Mohamed Ali Abdou says investigators are still trying to recover the information held in the flight's black boxes.

August 29th, 2009 2nd black box recovered from Comoros plane crashMORONI, Comoros — Authorities say they have recovered the second of two black boxes from a Yemenia Airways flight that crashed into the Indian Ocean in June with 153 people aboard. Col. Ismael Daho in charge of the Comoran crisis unit set up to deal with the crash says the plane's voice recorder was recovered Saturday.

August 20th, 2009 Underwater robots reach site of Indian Ocean crashPARIS — France says a ship carrying an underwater robot has arrived at the Indian Ocean nation of Comoros to retrieve the flight recorders from the Yemenia Airways plane crash. One girl survived the June 30 ocean crash and the other 152 people aboard the Comoros-bound flight were killed.

July 23rd, 2009 French navy detects Comoros crash black boxesPARIS — A French navy vessel has detected the black boxes of a Yemenia Airways plane that crashed into the Indian Ocean near the Comoros Islands, the ship's captain said Thursday. Comoran and French authorities, meanwhile, were still investigating the cause of the June 30 crash that left a 12-year-old girl as the only known survivor out of 153 people aboard.

July 23rd, 2009 French navy homes in on Comoros crash black boxesPARIS — A French navy vessel has pinpointed the location of the black boxes of a Yemenia Airways plane that crashed into the Indian Ocean near the Comoros Islands, the ship's captain said Thursday. Comoran and French authorities are still investigating the cause of the June 30 crash that left a 12-year-old girl as the only known survivor out of 153 people aboard.

July 13th, 2009 Relatives of plane crash victims travel to ComorosPARIS — Relatives of those killed when a Yemenia Airways plane crashed two weeks ago traveled Monday to the Comoros Islands in hopes of finding peace after their losses, officials said. Authorities, meanwhile, were still investigating the cause of the June 30 crash, from which a 12-year-old girl was the only survivor out of 153 aboard.

July 12th, 2009 Relatives of plane crash victims to visit ComorosPARIS — At least 150 family members of those who died on Yemenia Airways Flight 626 landed Monday in the Comoros Islands aboard a chartered French airplane, company officials said. Yemenia organized the special flight for relatives of victims and its insurance company paid for it.

July 9th, 2009 2 more possible plane bodies found in TanzaniaARUSHA, Tanzania — Two more bodies were recovered in Tanzania as the French navy arrived Thursday to assist with the search for wreckage and remains from a plane that crashed into the Indian Ocean with 153 people aboard. Only one person, a 12-year-old girl, survived the June 30 crash of Yemenia Airways Flight 626 off the coast of Comoros.

July 9th, 2009 3 more possible plane bodies found in TanzaniaARUSHA, Tanzania — Three more bodies were found off Tanzania Thursday, bringing the total to 16, as the French navy arrived to assist in the search for wreckage and remains from a plane that crashed into the Indian Ocean. Only one of the 153 people on board Yemenia Airways Flight 626, 12-year-old Bahia Bakari, survived the June 30 crash off the coast of Comoros.

July 8th, 2009 13 bodies found in Tanzania; Plane crash ties eyedARUSHA, Tanzania — Thirteen bodies, a plane seat and a piece of metal stamped "Airbus" washed ashore in Tanzania and French investigators were trying to determine Wednesday if they were linked to the Yemenia Airways plane crash hundreds of miles away. Manzie Mangochie, district commissioner for Tanzania's largely undeveloped Mafia Island, said the bodies appeared to be of both African and European descent and included three women.

July 8th, 2009 Search for missing plane debris widens to TanzaniaARUSHA, Tanzania — An airline seat and a sheet of metal with an "Airbus" inscription washed ashore in Tanzania, officials said Wednesday, as two French investigators arrived to see if the debris was linked to the Yemenia Airways plane crash hundreds of miles away. The search for the remains of Flight 626 has widened since the plane crashed June 30 while trying to land in the Comoros with 153 passengers aboard.

July 7th, 2009 Yemen: 8 bodies in Tanzania may be from air crashNAIROBI, Kenya — Eight bodies that have washed ashore in Tanzania may be from a plane that plunged into the Indian Ocean with 153 people onboard, Yemeni authorities said Tuesday. Only one 12-year-old girl survived the crash.

July 7th, 2009 Divers, investigators in Comoros search for planeNAIROBI, Kenya — A Comoran official says little debris and no bodies from the crashed Yemenia Airways plane have been found, but predicts that will change once the exact location of the plane's black boxes are pinpointed. One 12-year-old girl survived by clinging to floating debris for up to 13 hours after the June 30 plane crash, but 152 other passengers and crew are still missing from Flight 626.

July 6th, 2009 French experts at sea to hunt for black boxesNAIROBI, Kenya — French aviation experts set out in speedboats from the Comoros Islands on Monday, trying to pinpoint the exact location of the black boxes from a flight that crashed into the Indian Ocean last week, killing 152 people. The aviation investigation agency BEA said a French submarine had picked up signal beacons from the black boxes on Sunday.

July 6th, 2009 Body found in sea off Comoros not from plane crashNAIROBI, Kenya — A Comoran official says a body has been found in the Indian Ocean but it is not related to the Yemenia Airways plane crash that killed 152 people last week. A search and rescue official says a body was found Sunday off the island of Anjouan.