Africa
Yemeni plane crashes in sea off Comoros, 153 on board
A Yemenia airlines Airbus 310-300 taxis on the tarmac of Charles De Gaulle International Airport in Paris in this July 27, 2002 file photo. An Airbus A310-300 from Yemen with 153 people on board crashed into choppy seas as it tried to land in bad weather on the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros on June 30, 2009, officials said. Picture taken July 27, 2002. Photo/REUTERS
Posted Tuesday, June 30 2009 at 07:36
A United Nations official at the airport, who declined to be named, said the control tower had received notification the plane was coming into land, and then lost contact with it.
Yemenia is 51 percent owned by the Yemeni government and 49 percent owned by the Saudi Arabian government. Its fleet includes two Airbus 330-200s, four Airbus 310-300s and four Boeing 737-800s, according to the company Web site.
The Comoros covers three small volcanic islands, Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli, in the Mozambique channel, 300 km (190 miles) northwest of Madagascar and a similar distance east of the African mainland.
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