More than 150 people were on board. A five-year-old child survived and was rescued from the ocean, while some bodies have also been recovered.

The plane flew from Yemen, but many on board began their journey in France.

Most on board had flown on a different Yemenia aircraft from Paris or Marseille before boarding flight IY626 in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen.

In Paris, Mr Bussereau told legislators that the Yemenia Airbus 310 which crashed was not permitted to fly into France.

The EU's transport chief has called for a worldwide blacklist of airlines deemed unsafe, as investigators probe the crash of a Yemeni airliner.
"My idea is to propose a world blacklist similar to that in the EU," Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani told reporters.

The EU blacklists dozens of airlines from across the world - most of them from Africa and Asia - meaning they are banned from flying to the 27-nation bloc.

Yemenia Air is not on the EU's blacklist, which is updated regularly.

Source: BBC News.