2009 Plane Crash Trial: Sole Survivor Testifies Against Airline

Created: 05/23/2022, 17:16

By: Linus Prien

Bahia Bakari is the only survivor of the plane crash in the African Comoros in 2009 that killed 152. © Thomas Samson/dpa

The sole survivor of a 2009 plane crash has testified against the airline in the trial.

No representative from the airline showed up.

Paris - In the trial of a plane crash in the African Comoros that killed 152 people in 2009, the only survivor testified in court in Paris on Monday (May 23).

The plane was already on its way to land and the passengers were buckled, said Frenchwoman Bahia Bakari.

She was 12 years old when the crash happened.

"I felt turbulence, I thought that's normal," said the student.

"Suddenly I felt an electric shock that paralyzed my whole body and pulled me up, I had no way of reacting." After that she only regained consciousness in the water and clung to a piece of wreckage.

"I heard calls for help in the water, but I was all alone." She was rescued after ten hours.

Plane crash trial: No airline representative on site

Shortly before landing in the capital Moroni, the Airbus crashed into the Indian Ocean in bad weather.

65 of the victims were French, mostly from the Comoros.

They had flown from Paris and Marseille to the Yemeni capital of Sana'a and boarded the plane to the East African island state of Comoros.

The company Yemenia Airways now has to answer for negligent homicide and negligent bodily harm before the criminal court in Paris.

Bakari complained that no airline representative appeared in court.

"I would have wanted them to listen to us, to listen to me, to make me feel respected."

Plane crash trial: Airline faces a fine of up to 225,000 euros

In the water she had every hope that her mother, with whom she was traveling, survived the accident.

She only found out about her death later in the hospital.

Life afterwards with her father and three younger siblings was not easy.

"I knew the siblings needed the mother, but I couldn't replace them." Overcome with emotion, several of the relatives left the courtroom.

There are 560 joint plaintiffs in the process.

The Civil Aviation Authority of France BEA later saw evidence of pilot error as the cause.

Another question is whether the training was sufficient and whether defects in the runway lighting played a role.

If the airline is proven to have failed, it faces a fine of up to 225,000 euros.