Yemenia may curb Airbus order on crash dispute

“We are not receiving cooperation from Airbus and some of the French people are really against us,” Chairman Abdulkalek Saleh Al-Kadi, said in a telephone interview from the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, Bloomberg reported. “If they prejudge the result of the accident before the investigation, tell me how do we handle this?”

Yemenia, which is 51% owned by the government and 49% by Saudi Arabian Airlines, placed an order for 10 Airbus A350 planes in 2007. A final decision “will depend on the cooperation between us, Airbus and the French,” Al-Kadi said.

A Yemenia Airbus A310-300 with 153 people on board came down in the ocean just before it was due to land in the Comoros Islands, en route from Sana’a. One girl survived. The plane was built in 1990 and operated by Yemenia since 1999, according to the Toulouse, France-based manufacturer.

The French government said it’s focused on the investigation and declined to comment on the Airbus contract.

“We have very good cooperation with Yemen,” said a spokeswoman for Transportation Minister Dominique Bussereau. “The investigation is our priority.”

Airbus said any communication about the accident should come from investigators. “Airbus is in contact with Yemenia and these discussions are confidential,” said Justin Dubon, a company spokesman.

French safety inspectors found faults in 2007 with the aircraft that crashed and it was “excluded” from flying in France, Bussereau told members of parliament on the day of the accident. The carrier passed European Union inspections after the 2007 finding and avoided being placed on a blacklist. The EU is again reviewing Yemenia’s safety record.

Al-Kadi has said the plane was “technically sound” and being flown by an experienced pilot, and that stormy weather was to blame for the crash.