Cockpit Voice Recorder Still Missing In 3,600 Feet Of Water

Authorities have confirmed that the Flight Data Recorder from an Airbus A310 which went down June 30th off the coast of the island of Comoros has been recovered. Some debris and the bodies of six of the passengers have also been found in the search.

The international news service AFP reports that "(t)he investigation commission confirms that the flight data recorder... was recovered today at 8:30 am (0530 GMT)," chief investigator Ali Abdou Mohamed said in a statement.

The A310 was operated by Yemeni Airlines. It had picked up passengers in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa who had flown from France on a different airliner. The plane went down in the Indian Ocean while attempting to land at Moroni. The plane had been banned from flying in Europe because of safety concerns, but official have yet to establish the cause of the crash.

There was one survivor, a 13-year-old girl who lost her mother in the accident. She clung to floating debris for 8 hours in the ocean before being rescued. Most of the passengers were of Comoran origin living in France.

FMI: www.bea-fr.org/anglaise/