Crash Renews Focus on Developing World's Air Safety

Yemenia flights suspended pending security improvements

(NEWSER) - The British government yesterday ordered an immediate halt to direct flights from Yemen to the UK as a security precaution. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, describing the country as "both an incubator and potential safe haven for terrorism," also announced the creation of an expanded no-fly list of people with suspected terror links, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

Spate of incidents puts airline on the hot seat

(NEWSER) - The Federal Aviation Administration is stepping up its oversight of American Airlines, looking for a link amid a spate of recent rough landings. Three American jets have had problematic landings in recent weeks, the most dramatic being an incident in Jamaica on Dec. 23, in which a 737 skidded off the runway, cracking its fuselage and injuring dozens. The other two issues, in North Carolina and Texas, were less serious and involved M-80 jets. More»

Search continues as France sends searcher robots to Comoros

(AP) - Investigators have concluded that the black boxes from Yemenia Airways Flight 626 that plunged into the Indian Ocean are too deep to be reached by divers, a French official said today. French investigators are trying to determine the exact zone where the boxes can be found using equipment that allows them to pick up signal beacons, he added, but cannot pinpoint the direction or distance of the sound. More»

(NEWSER) - The 14-year-old girl who appears to be the lone survivor of yesterday’s Yemenia Airlines crash is recovering and in no danger, the BBC reports. Bahia Bakari escaped the crash with just a few cuts to her face and a fractured collarbone, though she can barely swim, and wasn't wearing a life vest. "It is a true miracle," a French official tells the AP. "She held onto a piece of the plane from 1:30am to 3pm." More»

14-year-old girl is sole survivor of crash; plane failed 2007 inspection

(NEWSER) - The French government has backed off reports that searchers located one of the black box flight recorders from Yemenia Air Flight 626, the BBC reports. The crash, in which a 14-year-old girl appears to be the sole survivor out of 151 passengers, occurred after the Airbus 310 had aborted its first try at landing, AFP reports. The girl, who lives in Marseilles and was traveling with her mother, suffered no serious injuries and is recovering in a hospital on the Comoros Islands. Earlier reports that a 5-year-old boy had also been rescued were incorrect. More»