Yemenia Flight 626 was a scheduled flight on an Airbus A310 twin-engine jet airliner operated by Yemenia that was flying a scheduled international service, from Sanaa in Yemen to Moroni in Comoros, when it crashed on 30 June 2009 at around 1:50 am local time (10:50 pm on 29 June UTC) while on approach to Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport, killing all but one of the 153 passengers and crew on board. The sole survivor, 12-year-old girl Bahia Bakari, was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean. Bakari was discharged from the hospital on 23 July 2009.
With 152 deaths, it was the deadliest aviation disaster in the Comoros and one of the deadliest modern disasters in the nation.
The final report on the incident concluded that the crew's inappropriate flight control inputs led to an aerodynamic stall. Failing to stabilize the approach, the crew decided to abandon it and made a go-around. While conducting the climb, they were unaware that their inputs caused the automation system to set the thrust to idle, decreasing the airspeed and causing the aircraft to stall. Saturated by their workload and lack of training, the crew failed to properly get out of the stall as they kept making a nose up input. The aircraft eventually impacted the Indian Ocean. The report also noted that the crew did not react to the warnings being issued by the aircraft.
Aircraft
The aircraft was an Airbus A310-324 twin-engine jetliner, registration 7O-ADJ, manufactured in 1990 as serial number 535. It was in service for 19 years and 3 months, and had accumulated 53,587 flight hours on 18,129 flight cycles at the time of the accident. Yemenia bought the aircraft in October 1999.
Dominique Bussereau, the French Secretary of State for Transport, reported that the plane was inspected in 2007 by the French Directorate General for Civil Aviation and found to have a number of faults; since then, however, the aircraft had not returned to France, so it was never again inspected by the same authority.
Passengers and crew
There were 142 passengers and 11 crew aboard. Most passengers are believed to have been either Comorian or French nationals. There were also citizens of Canada, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Morocco, Palestine, the Philippines and Yemen on board the plane. An airport source has claimed that 66 of the passengers held French citizenship, but many of those could be dual French-Comorian citizens. Many may have been residents of Marseille, a French city with a large Comorian population, headed home for a vacation; the week of the accident marks the beginning of summer vacations for French school children. The two other persons on board were said to be Europeans. The Yemeni government confirmed that of the 142 passengers aboard, there were a total of 75 Comorians, 66 French, 1 Canadian and 1 Palestinian. There were at least 3 infants on board.
The three flight crew members were all Yemeni. Of the cabin crew, 3 were Yemeni, 2 were Moroccan, 1 was Filipino, 1 was Ethiopian, and 1 was Indonesian.
The flight crew consisted of Captain Khaled Hajeb (44), First Officer Ali Atef (50), and Flight Engineer Ali Salem, all of whom were Yemeni. Captain Hajeb had been working for Yemenia since 1989 and became an A310 captain in 2005. He had 7,936 flight hours, including 5,314 hours on the Airbus A310. Hajeb had previously flown to Moroni 25 times. First Officer Atef had been with the airline since 1980, and he was qualified to fly the Airbus A310 in 2004. Atef had 3,641 flight hours, with 3,076 on the Airbus A310 and had previously flown to Moroni 13 times.
Accident
Flight history
Flight 626 was a scheduled international passenger flight from the Yemeni capital of Sana'a to Moroni, the capital of the Comoros. At the time, it was one of the primary flights to the Comoros archipelago. The flight was frequented by Comorian diaspora to come home to their homeland, particularly due to its significantly cheaper prices than the other airliners. Passengers from the flight usually came from multiple countries, with the majority coming from France after working overseas.
On 29 June, Flight 626 began its boarding process. Many of the passengers had been in transit from a previous Yemenia flight from Paris to Sana'a with a stopover in Marseille, which was using an Airbus A330-200. Of the 111 passengers, a total of 52 had boarded in Paris and another 59 boarded in Marseille. Comorians diaspora in the Middle East had gathered in the Yemeni capital and eventually boarded the plane, bringing the total number of occupants to 153 people. Majority of the passengers were families who were travelling back to the Comoros for vacation, as it was summer holiday in France. It also coincided with the "wedding season" in the Comoros, known locally as Ada N'amdra. Accordingly, many on the flight were attendees of the weddings.
On the flight was Captain Hajeb, who would be the commander of the flight and pilot flying, and First Officer Atef, who would be the pilot non-flying. The flight took off at 21:54 local time, approximately 24 minutes late due to issues with the APU, and was due to arrive at Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport in Moroni, Comoros, at 2:30 am local time on 30 June. The take-off and enroute phase were uneventful, and the flight proceeded normally.
Approach
At 01:00 local time, Flight 626 entered Comoros airspace, coming in from the northwest of the airport, and contacted Moroni Tower to request its approach clearance. The controller advised the crew of the prevailing weather conditions: winds from 190° at 15 knots and visibility of 10 km. Cruising at Flight Level 350 (35,000 ft), the aircraft was expected to land at approximately 1:52 a.m., conducting a straight-in ILS approach to Runway 02. The crew were later cleared to descend to Flight Level 100 (10,000 ft) and began their descent to Moroni.
Approximately 25 nautical miles from the VOR for Runway 02, the controller gave the updated weather report in Moroni. The wind speed had increased, blowing from southwest at 25-30 knots, over the limit of 15 knots. As a result, the crew decided to change their approach from Runway 02 to Runway 20, which was the same runway from the opposite end, from the north. The crew had to make a circling maneuvre first before they eventually managed to line up and land at Moroni. The crew then asked the controller whether the runway threshold lights were illuminated. The ATC responded by saying that they were not.
Flight 626 then turned toward the southwest, heading 199, and the autopilot was engaged. The target altitude was selected at 3,000 ft, and the aircraft started to descend, levelling off until it reached said altitude. The weather had deteriorated with winds blowing at around 40 knots. The aircraft was expected to continue flying until 16 nautical miles south of the airport, where it would start to turn to the north, flying parallel with the coastline of Grande Comore while trying to gain visual contact with the runway.
The aircraft turned to the left towards heading 59, continued flying at level wings for several seconds before finally turning again towards heading 15. Flight 626 was now flying to the north, approaching the runway from the south. The speed was set at 190 knots. A few minutes later, Flight 626 intercepted the localizer at 3,000 ft. The crew reported to the tower, and the controller ordered the crew to continue for a right downwind landing. The crew then queried the ATC regarding the wind condition. The controller stated that the wind at Runway 02 was still blowing at 20 - 30 knots, while the winds on Runway 20 were slower, at around 12 - 25 knots. The crew decided to proceed.
The crew selected a target speed of 170 knots into the autothrottle and the engine thrust were decreased. As it flew through 1,300 ft, the slats and the landing gear were extended. The airspeed was still 160 knots. Upon reaching the HA locator, the designated point at which the circling maneuver was to begin, the crew initiated the turn to the left.
Crash
The aircraft continued flying towards the northwest with a decreasing altitude. During the descend, the autopilot was disengaged. The aircraft was flying too low and descending with an alarming rate, prompting the aircraft's warning system to blare on the flight's dangerous altitude. The pilots then pulled the nose up, causing the aircraft to momentarily level off.
The aircraft continued its right turn but soon resumed descending at a vertical speed of approximately 1,000 ft/min. At one point, it descended to an altitude of about 160 ft above the surface of the Indian Ocean. The Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) again issued repeated "Too low, terrain" warnings. During this time, the crew informed Moroni air traffic control that they would call back later and proceeded to extend the landing gear.
Engine thrust was then increased, and the aircraft's nose began to rise. Shortly afterward, a repetitive chime sounded briefly before stopping, and the aircraft's airspeed continued to decrease. As the speed decayed further, the aircraft began to experience aerodynamic buffeting. The pilots, realizing how low they were flying above the sea, immediately pulled up the yoke. The pitch went up as high as 28 degrees, and the aircraft banked heavily to the right while their altitude fluctuated.
The aircraft began to bank to the left and right in quick succession. The low airspeed caused the aircraft to shake more, which caused the pilots to panic. As the aircraft lost its lift, it began to lose altitude as it had entered a stall. The aircraft began to shake violently to the left and right due to lack of lifting forces on the wings. The pilots tried to control the aircraft by pressing the rudder pedals.
After a series of heavy banks and rapidly decreasing airspeed, the aircraft finally had lost all lift forces on the left wing. The left wing stalled completely, causing the stall alarm to blare. Moments later, the aircraft rolled sharply to the left, reaching a bank angle of approximately 74 degrees. The pilots pulled the yoke hard to the right as they tried to save the aircraft by leveling the wings.
The pilots managed to level the wings, but the aircraft kept stalling. Moments later, it impacted the Indian Ocean in the north coast of Grande Comore, approximately 6 km off the coast of Mitsamiouli. Moroni Tower immediately lost all contact with Flight 626. They tried to call the crew four times, but they received no response. The emergency team was quickly informed about the disappearance of the flight. The controller later relayed the information to other controllers in Antananarivo, Dar es Salaam, Sana'a and Réunion about Flight 626. An unnamed United Nations official at the airport said that the control tower had received a notification that the plane was approaching to land before losing contact. An unseasonably strong cold front had moved through the Comoros Islands, bringing winds gusting to 64 km/h (40 mph; 35 kn) and conditions favorable for light to moderate turbulence. Yemeni civil aviation deputy chief Mohammed Abdul Qader said the wind speed was 61 km/h (38 mph; 33 kn) at the time the aircraft was landing.
Search and recovery
According to the Comoran police, the nation possesses no sea rescue capabilities. The nation's president, Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, ordered every Comorian vessels, including civilian-owned ones, to search for debris and survivors from the crashed aircraft. He also appealed to the international community for aids in searching for the aircraft and survivors. The French government was the first to be asked. Two French military aircraft and a vessel began the formal search for Flight 626. They were sent from Réunion and Mayotte. A medical team, soldiers, gendarmeries, and judicial police would be sent to the Comoros. French frigate Nivôse, which was traveling near Madagascar at the time, also joined the search. The island of Réunion sent a team of divers from the French Army and the island's firefighting services to assist with the search. The Galawa Beach in Mitsamouli became the center for the search and rescue operation.
Later on, the United States and Yemen joined the operation. Yemen sent a team of divers to Grande Comore, while the United States deployed personnel from the United States Air Force alongside a Lockheed C-130 to the search area. As search intensified, more personnel were transported to the Comoros. An Italian vessel, which had been partaking in Operation Atalanta, was also deployed for the operation. France sent a Transall C-160 aircraft from Réunion to detect beacons from the black boxes and French Red Cross personnel were deployed across the island of Grande Comore to assist with the recovery operation.
Survivor found
Approximately twelve hours after the crash, a civilian vessel Sima Com 2 discovered a survivor clinging onto a piece of debris near Mitsamiouli. The survivor, identified as 12-year-old girl Bahia Bakari, was rescued while floating in rough sea among debris. The boat later transported her to Galawa, where she would later be transported to the nation's largest hospital, El Maarouf Hospital, in Moroni. Bakari had been traveling with her mother, who did not survive.