Teenage Air Crash Survivor Reunited With Family

(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»

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»

12-year-old sole survivor tells her story

(NEWSER) - When a Yemenia Airways jet fell out of the tempestuous sky into the sea, it felt "like being electrocuted," the sole survivor tells the Times of London. Bahia Bakari heard "a big sound" before being ejected from her plane, says the 12-year-old, and survived the hours after the crash by clinging to a piece of floating wreckage. In the dark, choppy seas, Bahia could not see other survivors, but “was hearing people speak." 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»

Airbus to give thrust guidelines today

(NEWSER) - The crashed Air France jet was flying too slowly, insiders have told Le Monde. Airbus, which built the plane, plans to notify airlines of the right thrust levels for flights in bad weather today, the Daily Telegraph says. Whether speed could be at fault for the jet’s series of glitches is “not clear,” says Reuters; messages from the plane suggest two computers failed. More»