[Day Dreamer]

(CNN) -- Rescuers were searching the wreckage of a downed Yemeni jet Tuesday after the "miracle" discovery of a young child in the Indian Ocean.


An Airbus 310 like the one pictured crashed while on the way to the capital of Comoros.

The child is the only known survivor from the downed Yemenia Airways flight, which was carrying 153 people en route to the island nation of Comoros from Yemen's capital, Sanaa.

The child was found in the waters and taken to a hospital, said Captain Abdulkhalek al-Kadi, chairman of Yemenia Airways.

"One child is alive and we hope to find more," the chairman said. Watch as child found »

A reconnaissance plane spotted traces of the Airbus A310-300 in waters off the town of Mitsamiouli early Tuesday, said Comoros Vice President Idi Nadhoim. Comoros is located off the coast of the east African nation of Tanzania.

At first, Comoros officials said there were no signs of survivors among the dead bodies floating in the choppy waters. But then rescuers found the young child. Recent plane crashes »

"It is a miracle. I am glad the toddler is safe," Jon Cox, an aviation expert told CNN. "I am just sad about everybody else."

Cox said it reminded him of a plane crash out of Detroit, Michigan in 1980s
where only a 4-year-old girl survived.Tuesday's crash is the second involving an Airbus jet in a month. On June 1, an Air France Airbus A330 crashed off Brazil while en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, France. All 228 aboard are presumed dead. The cause remains under investigation.

The Yemeni crash occurred as the plane approached the Hahaya airport in Comoros' capital, Moroni. The plane tried to land, then U-turned before it crashed, Nadhoim said. Officials did not know why the plane could not land, he said.

There were 142 passengers and 11 crew members aboard, Yemenia Air officials said.

Kadi, chairman of Yemenia Airways, blamed the crash on bad weather
"It was high seas and windy weather," he said.

Flight 626 left Sanaa Monday at 9:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) for what was expected to be a four-and-a-half-hour flight. The airline has three regular flights a week to Moroni, off the east coast of Africa, about 2,900 km (1,800 miles) south of Yemen.

The crash occurred about 1:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Nadhoim said.
Most of the passengers aboard the Airbus A310 were Comorians, an official at Sanaa's international airport told CNN.

Airbus A310-300
-Launched in 1983, entered service in 1985
-Widebody, twin-engine aircraft, typically carries 220 passengers
-Suited to medium-range routes of up to 5,200 nautical miles (9,600km)
-Typical cruise speed of Mach 0.8, maximum operating speed of Mach 0.84
-214 A310s now in service with 41 operators
-Global A310 fleet, including the A310-300, has logged 11.7 million flight hours on 4.5 million flights
-Major sub-assemblies produced in northern France, Germany, UK and Spain. Final assembly in Toulouse, southern France
(Source: Airbus)

An official at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris said there were 66 French passengers aboard.

There was no indication of foul play behind the crash, the official in Yemen said.

France's transport minister said Yemenia Airways was being monitored by EU authorities and that French inspectors had noted several faults on the jet that crashed, Agence France-Presse reported.

"The company was not on the blacklist (of airlines banned from European airspace) but was being subjected to closer inspection by us and was due to soon be heard by the security committee of the European Union," Dominique Bussereau told French television.

Bussereau said the Airbus A310 was inspected in France in 2007 by the French civil aviation authority and "a certain number of faults had been noted."

"The plane had not since then reappeared in our country," he added.

Yemenia Air had used the jet since 1999, on about 17,300 flights, Airbus officials said. The company said it would assist in investigating the crash.

"We are extremely saddened and our thoughts are with the families, friends and loved ones affected by this accident," Airbus spokeswoman Maggie Bergsma told CNN.

"We are giving our maximum support and assistance to the authorities and the airline."

"This includes a team of Airbus experts that will go on site and our crisis center has been open since early this morning, where our specialists work in direct contact with the airline and the authorities," Bergsma added.

"The task now is to gather as much information as possible, including retrieval of the black boxes, to help us understand what happened. This will need time and patience.

[Just Rod]

Man that child is going to grow up to be something great one day

[angelicpower]

Wow! I think God has plans for this child.

[StrikSkillz]

Wonder if the kids size saved him? And was the kid swimming or holding on debris?