Health1 min read

In 2009, girl, 12, survived plane crash and clung to wreckage for 13 hours

By · Via Times of India · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The Airbus A310-324 crashed roughly 18 kilometers from its destination airport, leaving 152 passengers and crew members dead. Bahia Bakari managed to stay afloat for roughly 13 hours despite having minimal swimming skills. A sailor had to leap from a rescue ship into the heavy seas to pull her to safety after high waves prevented her from grabbing a life preserver. She was subsequently hospitalized for hypothermia and a fractured collarbone before returning to France to reunite with her father.

Key points

  • Bahia Bakari was the sole person to survive out of the 153 individuals aboard the crashed…: Bahia Bakari was the sole person to survive out of the 153 individuals aboard the crashed airliner.
  • Heavy ocean waves and physical exhaustion severely complicated the maritime rescue operat…: Heavy ocean waves and physical exhaustion severely complicated the maritime rescue operation before she was pulled aboard conscious.
  • A hospital psychologist ultimately informed the injured child that her mother and all oth…: A hospital psychologist ultimately informed the injured child that her mother and all other passengers had died in the ocean disaster.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

In June 2009, a 12-year-old girl who could barely swim found herself alone in the dark waters of the Indian Ocean after a passenger aircraft plunged into the sea near the Comoros Islands. Bahia Bakari clung to a piece of floating wreckage as rescuers searched for survivors. She was eventually pulled from the water by a sailor who jumped into the rough sea to reach her. According to an Associated Press report published at the time, French officials said she had been afloat for about 13 hours. She was the only survivor of the crash that killed 152 people, including her mother.

The aircraft was Yemenia Airways Flight IY626, an Airbus A310-324 travelling from Sana’a in Yemen to Moroni, the capital of the Comoros. The flight was part of a longer journey that had originated in Paris, with stops in Marseille and Sana’a. It was carrying 142 passengers and 11 crew members, according to France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA).

The aircraft crashed into the sea during its approach to Moroni in the early hours…

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