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French military to pinpoint location of Yemenia jetliner's black boxes

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-06 14:08

PARIS: French Navy said Sunday that they will pinpoint the location of the doomed Yemenia Airway Airbus A310's black boxes in the coming days.

Divers return after patrolling the Indian Ocean waters during a search mission for the missing Yemenia Airbus A310-300 plane that crashed in Mitsamiouli, 30 km (19 miles) north of Comoros' capital Moroni, July 4, 2009. [Agencies]

Earlier Sunday, Abdou Said Madi, director of the national civil aviation agency for the Comoros, said a signal from the jetliner's black boxes had been detected about 10 to 12 km from Mitsamiouli beach, north of the capital Moroni.

Related readings:  Yemen plane crashes in ocean, child found alive  Yemen official: Comoros-bound plane crashes

According to French Lieutenant Commander Christophe Levivier, France has decided to send Beautemps-Beaupres, a hydrographic cruiser based in northwestern city of Brest, to pinpoint the location of the boxes.

Levivier added that the measurement would be quite precise and the cruiser was expected to search the Indian Ocean coast off the Comoros between July 12 and 17.

Madi said the plane could be lying some 500 to 600 meters deep in the Indian Ocean and the Comoros will need the help of foreign countries to recover the wreckage.

The Yemenia Airway Airbus A310 went down last Tuesday in the Indian Ocean with 153 people on board as it was about to land on the Comoros Islands. A 12-year-old girl was the only survivor of the crash.