Yemenia A310 Crashes With 153 Onboard
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By Robert Wall
Accident investigators, medical and rescue personnel have been dispatched to aid in the aftermath of the crash of Yemenia Airways Flight IY626, which went down on approach to Moroni Airport at 1:51 a.m. local, Comoros Islands time, today.
The Airbus A310-300 (registered 70—ADJ) left Sana’a in Yemen with 142 passengers and 11 crew onboard, the airline says. The aircraft crashed into the sea during approach. Yemeni officials suggest strong winds at the time of the attempted landing. Local reports indicate at least one child may have survived.
The French accident investigation agency, BEA, says it is sending a team to the crash site along with Airbus representatives. The French government says 66 of its nationals were on the flight. The country’s transport minister, Dominique Bussereau, also says the mishap aircraft, in 2007, had drawn critical scrutiny from the French civil aviation agency, the DGAC, and that Yemenia was being looked at by European authorities about potential inclusion on a black-list of carriers banned from operating in the Euroepan Union region.
Airbus says the aircraft, MSN535, rolled off its Toulouse assembly line in 1990 and has been in service with Yemenia since 1999. The aircraft had logged around 51,900 flight hours and 17,300 flights. It was powered by Pratt Whitney PW4152 turbofans.
The crashed aircraft is one of four A310s Yemenia operates and one of two the carrier acquired used. Yemenia also operates two A330-200s and has placed an order with Airbus for 10 A350-800s. The airline says it also operates four Boeing 737-800s.
The crash would be the first fatal accident for Yemenia, although a predecessor, Yemen Airlines, suffered a few accidents, the last in 1971, according to the Aviation Safety Network. It is the ninth hull loss for an A310. The deadliest accident was the Jan. 30, 2000, crash of a Kenya Airways flight in which 169 died.
The A310-300 has been in service since May 2009 and is operated by 41 airlines. The combined fleet time has reached 11.7 million flight hours, Airbus says.
Two French ships and a C-160 Transall from nearby Reunion have been mobilized to bring personnel and equipment to the crash site and aid the recovery operations, the French government says. The personnel include medical support and divers.
Photo: Wikipedia
