Plane Crashes in the Comoros Islands

An Airbus 310 operated by Yemenia, the national airline of Yemen, crashed in the Comoros Islands with at least 150 onboard. The plane, Yemenia Flight 626(IY626), en route from Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, to Prince Said Ibrahim airport in Moroni, the capital of Comoros, crashed about an hour from its destination, airline officials have said. Most of the 143 passengers were Comoran, there were 11 crewmembers onboard. Click here for a CNN map of the route.

Yemenia operates two Airbus 330s, four Airbus 310s, and four 737s. Questions about Airbus and its worthiness will only increase after this latest disaster.

Yemenia Flight 626 was one of the airline’s three flights per week to Moroni, which is off the east coast of Africa about 1,800 miles south of Yemen.

As of yet, there has been no official comment from any of the organizations involved. We will continue to monitor this situation.

The Comoros Islands were previously the site of a notable plane crash. Ethiopian Flight 961, which was hijacked on November 23, 1996 en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. The plane crashed off the coast  after running out of fuel, killing 125 of the 175 aboard the Boeing 767.