French court hands Yemenia Airways maximum fine over 2009 crash

A Paris court has convicted Yemen's national airline of involuntary homicide and injuries over a 2009 crash that killed 152 of the people on board. The only survivor was a 12-year-old girl.

Members of France's Comoran community march in memory of the victims of the Yemenia crash. The placard reads "Yemenia: aeroplane cemeteries. We Comorans don't want this anymore." AFP - BORIS HORVAT

Yemenia Airways, whose executives did not attend the trial, was sentenced to the maximum fine of 225,000 euros and ordered to pay over 1 million euros to two victims' associations for damages and costs.

The company's lawyer immediately announced that it would appeal the verdict.

Saïd Ahamada, an MP in Marseille where most of the victims lived, tweeted: "Finally. Mourning can begin."

Enfin !
Le deuil peut maintenant se faire. Après une longue attente de 13 ans la #Yemenia a été déclarée responsable de la mort de 152 passagers, majoritairement Marseillais.
La persévérance des familles, que j'ai accompagné à mon niveau, a permis d'aboutir à cette condamnation. https://t.co/nBK0ZIkcYt

— Saïd Ahamada (@saidahamada) September 14, 2022

Sole survivor

Flight Yemenia 626 was on approach to Moroni, the capital of the Comoros islands that lie between Mozambique and Madagascar, when it crashed on 29 June, 2009. It had departed from the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

Among the 142 passengers and 11 crew were 66 French citizens heading to the French overseas territory of Mayotte, part of the Comoros archipelago.

Just before 11pm, the Airbus A310 plunged into the Indian Ocean with its engines running at full throttle, killing everyone on board except Bahia Bakari, who was 12 years old.

Bahia survived by clinging onto floating debris from the plane for 11 hours before being rescued by a fishing boat the following day.

She suffered a broken collarbone, a broken hip, burns and other injuries. Her mother died in the crash. 

Loss of control

Investigators and experts found there was nothing wrong with the aircraft, blaming instead "inappropriate actions by the crew during the approach to Moroni airport, leading to them losing control".

Prosecutors accused the company of pilot training programmes "riddled with gaps" and of continuing to fly to Moroni at night despite several non-functioning landing lights.

In 2015, two French courts that oversaw civil proceedings ordered Yemenia to pay more than 30 million euros to the victims’ families, who deplored the slowness of the procedure between France and the Comoros – a former colony that became independent in 1975.

The airline in 2018 signed a confidential agreement with 835 beneficiaries who had to wait several more years to receive compensation.

(with wires)