French Navy searches for Comoros jet wreckage

Two French Navy ships are expected to arrive today in an area where a Yemeni airliner crashed into the sea off the Comoros Islands .

The French military has also sent medical teams and divers to search for bodies and wreckage of the jet which had 153 passengers and crew on board.

Among the Comoran communities in France there is growing anger about the allegedly poor state of aircraft used by the Yemeni carrier to fly to the Comoros Islands

One community spokesman said: “Since my childhood I have been hearing about this airline, people say it is a flying trash bin and that it does not compy with international safety standards.”

Community members said their warnings went unheeded.

Another said: “I have been saying this for 10 years its in a very bad condition. We have to cling to the seats. There are no seatbelts. The baggage has to sit beside us. We’ve known they will kill us and today it is a big drama. We told them one day we will have this.”

Many of the passengers began their journey in Paris or Marseille on one Yemenia plane, and then switched to the doomed Airbus in San’aa to fly on to the Comoros Islands

It has emerged the crashed plane had been banned from flying into France after French officials
decided it did not meet safety standards.

The plane plummeted into the sea during bad weather when approaching its destination.

Copyright © 2009 euronews

tags: Air France, Comoros