Angry Relative Calls Yemeni Airlines Planes 'Flying Coffins'

While much of the focus on the cause of the May 31 Air France crash that killed 228 people has been on the Airbus jet's external speed monitors, which may have iced over, any problems with an Airbus jet that crashed into the Indian Ocean today off the island nation of Comoros may have been broader and had more to do with the maintenance practices of the airline that was operating the plane.

As NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports from Paris, French aviation officials say the Yemeni Airlines jet was not in safe flying condition. It had been inspected in France two years ago and had not returned there since. The passengers on the flight that crashed today had flown from Paris to Yemen on a different plane, before switching to the doomed jet.

At Charles de Gaulle International Airport today, Eleanor spoke with a relative of someone was on the Yemeni plane. Speaking about that airline, he said that "they treat us like dogs. ... They stick us in these wrecks that are nothing but flying coffins":

There were 153 people on board the Yemeni jet that went down today. So far, authorities in the Comoros say, one survivor has been found -- a child said to be about five years old.