( CNN ) -- Search teams have found the flight data recorder from the Yemenia Airways plane that crashed off the Comoros Islands in June , killing 152 people , the chief investigator said Friday . Search parties continue their operation to locate the Yemenia Airbus A310 off the Comoros Islands in July . An operation to retrieve the recorder has begun , said a statement from investigator Ali Abdou Mohamed . The Airbus 310 crashed into the Indian Ocean , carrying 142 passengers and 11 crew members . It originated in Yemen 's capital , Sanaa , and went down just miles from Moroni , the capital of the Comoros Islands . One person , a 13-year-old French girl , survived . The recorder could contain information to help determine what caused the crash . The plane had tried to land at the airport in Moroni , then made a U-turn before it crashed , Comoros Vice President Idi Nadhoim said soon after the accident . A French official said that country had banned the plane after it failed an aviation inspection in 2007 , but Yemenia Airways was not on the European Union 's list of banned airlines . Passengers on the flight included 66 French citizens , 54 Comorians , one Palestinian and one Canadian , according to Yemeni and French officials . The crew was made up of six Yemenis , two Moroccans , one Ethiopian , one Filipino and one Indonesian . The Comoros Islands are between the east African country of Tanzania and the island nation of Madagascar .
Comoros Islands lie between east African and the island nation of Madagascar . Recorder could contain information to help determine what caused the crash . Comment: