( CNN ) -- Investigators have heard a signal from the flight data recorders of the Yemenia Airways plane that crashed last week , they announced Sunday . Search parties continue their operation to locate the Yemenia Airbus A310 off the Comoros Islands Saturday . `` A signal was picked up from two acoustic transmitters from the plane 's flight data recorders during a sea search to locate the data recorders this morning , '' the French air accident investigation agency , known as the BEA , said in a statement . Commonly known as `` black boxes , '' the data recorders should contain information to help determine what caused the crash . The Yemenia Airways Airbus 310 crashed into the Indian Ocean early Tuesday , 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 . Bahia Basari , who lives in Marseille , escaped with cuts to her face and a fractured collarbone . Watch teen survivor from crash » . The teen 's father , Kassim Bakari , told a French radio network that his wife and daughter were flying to Comoros to visit relatives . `` 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 told France Info . The head of the rescue team in the Comoros told French radio RTL that the teenager beat astonishing odds to survive . `` It is truly , truly , miraculous , '' Ibrahim Abdoulazeb said . `` The young girl can barely swim . '' Another rescuer told France 's Europe 1 radio that the girl was spotted in the rough sea , among bodies and plane debris in darkness , about two hours after the crash . The Airbus 310 plane 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 the nation had banned the plane after it failed an aviation inspection in 2007 . `` Since this check-up , we have not seen the plane reappearing in France , '' said Dominique Bussereau , the transport minister . But Yemenia Airlines was not on the European Union 's list of banned airlines , he added . 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 . Data recorders may contain information to help determine what caused the crash . Teenage ##r only person to survive the crash off Comoros islands . French , U.S. forces are helping to search for debris and bodies from the plane .