( CNN ) -- Rescue workers have located the downed Yemenia Airways plane 's distress signals , but not its flight data recorders , France 's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday . Relatives of passengers on the doomed jet arrive at Marseille airport in southern France . The ministry clarified comments made earlier in the day by the ministry 's junior minister for cooperation Alain Joyandet . He told CNN affiliate BFM TV that the `` black boxes '' -- the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder -- had been localized . `` The jet distress beacons were found , instead of the black boxes , '' the ministry later clarified . `` There could have been some confusion . '' The Airbus 310 went down early Tuesday , carrying 142 passengers and 11 crew members on a flight that originated in Yemen 's capital , Sanaa . The jet took off from Sanaa at 9:45 p.m. Monday and vanished from radar when it was about 16 miles from Comoros ' capital , Moroni . The French navy and Yemeni authorities expanded search efforts for wreckage and bodies Wednesday , with a French frigate among the ships joining the search . Watch what is known about the flight » . Searchers had recovered three bodies , Qadir said . Bahia Bakari , a 13-year-old French girl , was the only known survivor . Her mother was also on the flight , but she has not been found . The girl 's father Kassim Bakari told France Info , a French radio network , that his wife and daughter were flying to Comoros to visit relatives . Watch as airline describes child 's rescue » . `` When I had her on the phone , I asked her what happened and she said , 'Daddy , I do n'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 , ' '' Bakari said . 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 . A number of potential contributing factors were being considered in the crash . Recent plane crashes » . `` The weather conditions were indeed very troubling and the winds were very strong , reaching 61 kilometers per hour ( 38 mph ) , '' Qadir said . `` That 's one thing . The other thing was that the sea was very rough when the plane approached landing at Moroni airport . '' But French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau noted that France banned the Yemenia Airbus A310-300 several years ago because of safety concerns . `` People are talking about poor weather conditions , but for the moment , we are unsure , '' Bussereau said . `` It seems the plane may have attempted an approach , put on the gas , and attempted another approach , which then failed . For the moment , we must be careful , because none of this information is verified . '' Qadir said it was too early to blame the aircraft for the crash . `` This plane is just like any other plane , '' he said . `` It can have a malfunction , but we do n't know what really happened before the investigation is over . And then we can determine if there is a technical issue , bad weather or anything else that may have led to the crash . '' It is the second crash 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 . CNN 's Saad Abedine and Ayesha Durgahee contributed to this report .
NEW : Plane 's distress signals located but not its flight data recorder . Yemeni navy and Yemeni authorities expand search efforts for wreckage , bodies . Airbus 310 went down with two people on flight originating in U.S. , Yemen . U.S. accident investigators probing 153 recent failures aboard Airbus .