Sana’a: Yemenia Airways has denied charges in a recent media report against it over the crash of one of its planes off the Comoros Islands that killed 152 people in June 30, 2009.
The AFP reported on January 29 that the French authorities charged Yemenia Airways with manslaughter over the crash. Most of the crash’s victims were French bound to the Comoros.
The French news agency quoting a judicial source said that Yemenia’s Airbus A310, which departed from the Yemeni capital, “should not have been allowed to fly”.
“This information is baseless as the probe report is yet to be announced. Yemenia is ready to challenge any allegation regarding the [plane’s] pilot’s competence, or [its] maintenance,” Yemenia’s CEO, Ahmad Al Alwani said on Thursday.
Al Alwani said the French investigators have not yet finished interrogations over the crash and the Yemenia is cooperating with them to determine the cause of the tragedy.
At the same time, local media in Yemen have questioned the timing of AFP story which came as the Yemeni government is pressing the French Total to amend prices of gas. Last week, Yemenis protested in the street of Sana’a calling for cancellation of a “corrupt” gas deal that was signed during the reign of the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Yemeni media said that France revived the case to stop the government from claiming new gas prices.
