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The plane that killed 153 people when it crashed near Comoros already has faults which were discovered in inspections two years ago.

The fauls on the Airbus A310-300 were discovered by the air transport authorities back in 2007.

But French transport minister Dominique Bussereau says the plane had not been returned to France since the faults, which he would not disclose, were discovered.

“The company was not on the black list but was subject to stricter checks on our part, and was due to be interviewed shortly by the European Union’s safety committee,” he said.

As a result of the accident, there is now an investigation into whether Yemenia Air should be put on the European Union’s blacklist.

Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani said safety experts would get in touch with the Yemen airline establish what happened and to assess the level of safety of its flights in Europe.

But he also said that the aircraft did undergo a full inspection under Airbus supervision during May.