The appeal trial of the airline Yemenia Airways, convicted at first instance for the death of 152 people in the crash of a plane off the Comoros in 2009, opens Monday, March 4, before the Paris Court of Appeal . At first instance, the Paris criminal court sentenced the Yemeni company to a maximum fine of 225,000 euros for homicide and involuntary injuries.
The tragedy occurred on the night of June 29 to 30, 2009. While preparing to land at Moroni airport, capital of the Comoros, Yemenia flight 626 crashed into the Indian Ocean, carrying 141 passengers, including 65 French, and 11 crew members.
Yemenia Airways immediately announced its intention to appeal, denying any responsibility for the crash. One of the company’s managers should this time be present to present his version of the facts.
During the first instance trial, which took place from May 9 to June 2, 2022, the defendants’ dock remained empty: no company official was present, because of the war ravaging Yemen, at the time. explained one of his lawyers, Mr. Léon-Lef Forster.
The only survivor of the disaster, Bahia Bakari, 27, will also be present. Then aged 12, the young girl had miraculously survived after hours spent in the water, “clinging to a plane wreckage”.
“Professional weaknesses”
At first instance, the court noted the company’s “imprudence linked to the accident”, in particular the maintenance of night flights during the summer period, where the weather was likely to require a delicate landing maneuver while some airport lights were not working. The court also mentioned the assignment of a co-pilot to “professional weaknesses”. The investigations carried out on the black boxes, found at the end of August 2009 at a depth of 1,280 meters, had also made it possible to conclude that the accident was due to a series of piloting errors.
The appeal trial will last until March 28.
During its final journey, the Airbus A310 carried many Comorians and French people of Comorian origin who were going to the archipelago to celebrate “grand weddings”, ceremonies bringing together entire villages.
Having left Paris or Marseille, the passengers had changed planes in Sanaa (Yemen) for a more obsolete aircraft. This operation and the “execrable” flight conditions with the company had been denounced for months by an association, SOS Voyages aux Comoros.
The technical condition of the plane was not involved in the accident, the legal experts nevertheless concluded.
