French divers, aviation investigators in the Comoros search for crashed plane

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 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 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 Official: Comoros black boxes too deep for diversNAIROBI, Kenya — Investigators have concluded that the black boxes from a plane that plunged into the Indian Ocean with 153 people onboard are too deep to be reached by divers, a French official said Tuesday. Yemenia Airways Flight 626 crashed into the Indian Ocean north of the Comoros Islands a week ago.

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.

July 4th, 2009 Yemen says plane wreckage recovered off ComorosSAN'A, Yemen — A Yemeni aviation committee says pieces of wreckage from the passenger jet that crashed off the Comoros islands have been recovered. The committee overseeing the investigation says divers brought up pieces of the Airbus 310's fuselage.

June 30th, 2009 France found faults with crashed Yemeni planePARIS — France's transport minister says French aviation inspectors found a "number of faults" during a 2007 inspection of a plane that has crashed in the Indian Ocean. The passenger jet from Yemen with 153 people on board crashed Tuesday as it tried to land during heavy wind on the island nation of Comoros.

June 30th, 2009 PARIS - A Yemenia Air plane with 150 people on board crashed in the Indian Ocean island of Comoros early Tuesday, French radio station RFI reported. It was unclear whether there were any survivors, Comoros government officials were quoted as saying by broadcaster CNN.

June 30th, 2009 Yemen: Comoros-bound plane had 153 on boardSAN'A, Yemen — A Yemeni aviation official says the Yemeni Airbus 310 that crashed off the Comoros islands in the Indian Ocean had 142 passengers and a crew of 11 Yemenis on board. Yemeni civil aviation deputy chief Mohammed Abdul Qader says the majority of the passengers were from the Comoros.

June 30th, 2009 Comoros: Child rescued alive in Airbus 310 crashCAIRO — A Comoros police official says a child has been rescued alive from the sea in the Airbus 310 crash off the Indian Ocean island. Immigrations officer with the Comoros operations, Rachida Abdullah, says a toddler was rescued from the crash site Tuesday.