Yemenia crash brings focus on international aviation safety

The crash of a Yemenia Airbus A310-300 in waters near the African coast has put increasing focus on world aviation safety standards, as also Airbus aircraft, for the crash follows that of an Air France A330-200 off the coast of Brazil early last month. The Yemenia crash may have killed up to 152 passengers and crew, with only a teenage girl as the sole survivor.

Airbus confirmed that a 24-year-old A310-300 airplane operated by Yemen's national carrier crashed near the Comoros Islands. The flight had departed from the city of Sana'a in Yemen and was headed to Moroni in the Comoro Islands, along the East African coast northwest of Madagascar.

According to reports, the Yemenia plane was flying the final leg of a trip from France to the Comoros and carried 66 French citizens.

French transport minister Dominique Bussereau told media that the crashed A310-300 was inspected in France in 2007 and "numerous faults" were found. "This plane had been excluded from the national territory because it represented certain irregularities," he said.

European Commission VP-Transport Antonio Tajani told a news conference in Brussels that Yemenia was under heightened scrutiny after France expressed concern in 2007 but that the carrier cleared subsequent EU inspections of its aircraft.

Yemenia has passed an IATA Operational Safety Audit.