Sole survivor of air crash is fortunate – but not unique
Since the ’70s alone, there have been a number of extraordinary cases where sole survivors have lived after catastrophic plane crashes.
Rescuers said the 14-year-old was found floating 16km out to sea from the Comoros islands off Africa’s east coast where the Yemeni Air Airbus was trying to land. The girl, who had been travelling with her mother, was taken to hospital but was making a good recovery, a rescue centre spokesman said.
Earlier reports saying the survivor was a five-year-old boy were incorrect, he said.
In January 1985, a 17-year-old boy survived when he was thrown from the wreckage of a Galaxy Airlines plane which crashed near Reno in the US killing all six crew and 64 passengers. Also in the US a four-year-old girl was the only survivor of a crash in August, 1987 in Detroit, in which all six crew and 149 passengers were killed, as well as two people on the ground. In March, 1995 a plane crashed south of Cartegena, Colombia killing all five crew members and 46 of the 47 passengers. The sole survivor was a nine-year-old girl.
A three-year-old boy was the only person not killed when in July 2003 a plane crash in Sudan claimed the lives of all 11 crew members and 105 passengers.
Many of the dead in yesterday’s tragedy were French and the EU said it was considering blacklisting airline Yemenia Air which has been criticised for its safety procedures.
In Marseille, home to about 80,000 immigrant Comorans, honorary consul Stephane Salord said Yemenia’s planes were “flying cattle trucks”.
