Indian Ocean Plane Crash: Teen Survives as 152 Perish

The sole survivor of a plane crash in the stormy Indian Ocean is a 13-year-old girl named Bahia who could barely swim and didn't have a life jacket.  Bahia's plane - an Airbus 310 with 153 people on board - crashed in rough weather while preparing to land in the Comorros, the tiny island nation.  Bahia was rescued after clinging to debris for around 12 hours in shark-infested waters.  She is reportedly "doing well," according to a nurse who treated her.

Bahia returned home to France on Thursday where she is recovering in an unnamed hospital.  She has cuts on her face and a fractured collarbone, according to The Guardian of London.  Bahia's father, Kassim, said he spoke with her by phone after the crash.  "Bahia was ejected, she found herself beside the plane," her father told France's RTL radio. He described her as "fragile" and said she could "barely swim".

"She is a very, very shy girl. I would never have thought she would have survived like this. I can’t say that it’s a miracle, I can say that it is God’s will," he said.

"When I had her on the phone, I asked her what happened and she said, 'Daddy, I don't know what happened, but the plane fell into the water and I found myself in the water . . . surrounded by darkness. I could not see anyone,' " Kassim said. "She could hear people talking, but in the middle of the night she couldn't see a thing. She managed to hold on to a piece of something."

Bahia was found bobbing in the ocean, according to Sergeant Said Abdilai on Europe 1 radio.  She could not grab the life ring rescuers threw to her, so Abdilai said he jumped into the sea. He said rescuers gave the trembling girl warm water with sugar.

The crash of Yemenia Flight 626 came two years after aviation officials reported faults with the plane.

Key questions and answers below, including: How often do airplane crashes have only one survivor?  Is it safe to fly an Airbus?  What's the safest seat on an airplane?

The Yemenia plane was the second Airbus to crash into the sea this month. An Air France Airbus A330-200 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, killing all 228 people on board, as it flew from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

The Comoros is an archipelago of three main islands situated 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) south of Yemen, between Africa's southeastern coast and the island of Madagascar. It is a former French colony of 700,000 people.

Is it safe to fly on an Airbus?

Yes.  Over all, it is very safe to fly.  And there is no reason to believe two recent Airbus crashes - Air France 447 and Yemenia 626 -- are connected.  The crashes involved different Airbus models flying in very different situations.

However, according to the Independent of London, you should think carefully before flying Yemenia airlines.  "Yemenia's fleet has certainly come in for considerable criticism in the past," says the Independent.  "Most damningly, French inspectors who looked at the plane at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris in 2007 noticed a number of faults. The aircraft was banned from flying in French airspace and, under the EC's safety directives, they instructed Yemenia to carry out stricter checks on the place in future. But Yemen's Transport minister, Khaled Ibrahim al-Wazeer, insisted it had since been rigorously checked under the supervision of Airbus experts."

How often do plane crashes have only one survivor?

Including the Yemeni crash, there have been 13 airliner crashes since 1970 with a sole survivor, according to CNN and data compiled by Dr. Todd Curtis, director of the Airsafe.com Foundation.  Five of those survivors were minors and four were crew members, accounting for 75 percent of the total.

"I can't figure out for the life of me why crew members and children tend to be disproportionate in these sole-survivor events," Curtis says.

Which is the safest seat  on an airplane?

There's quite a bit of contradictory evidence about which is the safest seat on an airplane.  Some data suggests that sitting toward the front of the plane is safest.  Some evidence suggests sitting toward the back is safer.  Indeed, Popular Mechanics reviewed 20 airplane crashes and concluded: "Passengers near the tail of a plane are about 40 percent more likely to survive a crash than those in the first few rows up front."

So where should you try to sit? 

The Survivors Club recommends ignoring recommendations about the front or the back.  Instead, follow the Five Row Rule.  Professor Ed Galea of the University of Greenwich in London has studied more than 100 plane crashes and their seating charts.  He has also interviewed thousands of survivors and fliight crew.  After examining all the data, he recommends sitting within five rows of any exit.  The closer you sit to any exit - front, middle or back - the better your chances, Galea says.  Aisle seats are marginally safer than middle or window seats because they afford more mobility and choices.

Is the accident rate going up?

The Wall Street Journal compiles the latest statistics: "According to aircraft tracking and consulting firm Ascend, the Yemenia crash is the fifth fatal passenger airline accident worldwide this year. In addition to Colgan’s Continental Express flight and the Air France A330 crash, there were two other fatal airline accidents, both in February. One in Brazil claimed 22 lives and a Boeing 737 accident in Holland killed five people.

Measured in terms of total hull losses – planes that end up totaled after an accident – this year is on par with the past five years, according to Ascend. So far this year, there have been 11 Western-built planes damaged beyond repair in accidents, including the US Airways flight in the Hudson River. (Hull losses also include cargo carriers, so the FedEx MD-11 accident in Tokyo that killed a crew of two is included.)"

Please check back - The Survivors Club staff will update this article as we learn more about the crash and Bahia, the lone survivor.