The French judiciary convicted Yemen Airways on Tuesday on appeal in Paris on charges of murder and manslaughter, 15 years after the crash of one of its planes in 2009 off the coast of the Comoros, which killed 152 people.

The Capital Court of Appeal upheld the ruling issued on September 14, 2022, which imposed on the company the maximum fine stipulated by law when the accident occurred, i.e. 225 thousand euros.

On the night of June 29-30, 2009, while preparing to land at Moroni Airport, the capital of the Comoros, Yemenia Airlines Flight 626 crashed into the Indian Ocean, killing 141 passengers, including 65 French nationals and 11 crew members.

One 12-year-old girl survived after clinging to the wreckage of the plane for hours.

Investigations conducted on the two black boxes after they were found at the end of August 2009 at a depth of 1,280 meters led to the conclusion that the accident was due to a series of driving errors.

The court had referred in the court of first instance to “recklessness” on the part of the company “definitely linked to the accident,” especially to maintain night flights in the summer period, when the weather could lead to difficult landing maneuvers when some of the airport’s lights were not working.

The court also indicated at that time that the co-pilot was assigned to the flight and he had “professional weaknesses.”

On Tuesday morning, the President of the Court of Appeal, Sylvie Madec, announced the confirmation of this ruling, adding an additional penalty of displaying the decision for two months in the terminals of Roissy and Marseille airports.

The court followed the decision of the Public Prosecution, which requested the same penalty issued by the court of first instance during the second trial, stressing that it did not see “any mitigating circumstances” for the company.

The war in Yemen, the state of division, and the Houthis’ control over vast areas of the country, especially the capital, Sana’a, caused the deterioration of the Yemeni air transport fleet.

Last June, Yemeni Airlines resumed its direct flights between the city of Aden, the temporary Yemeni capital, and the city of Dubai, after a hiatus that lasted more than 9 years due to the war in the country.

In the same month, the State of Kuwait granted Yemen Airways three aircraft and two engines, days after the Houthis seized three of the company’s aircraft at Sanaa International Airport, which is under their control.