Yemenia Airways Flight 626 crash
Meteosat-7 IR images
Yemenia Airways Flight 626 departed from Sana in Yemen and crashed after an aborted landing attempt at Moroni in the Comoros Islands off the east coast of Africa on 29 June 2009. Meteosat-7 11.5 µm IR images (above) showed that there was a strong southerly flow over the region on that day, in the wake of a cold frontal passage. Meteosat-7 IR cloud drift winds from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site (below) showed that winds were generally in the 20-30 knot range over the region at the time of the crash.
Meteosat-7 IR cloud-tracked winds
These wind speeds are consistent with the surface METAR reports at Moroni Hahaya International Airport:
FMCH 292200Z 18022G33KT 9999 FEW020 24/17 Q1018 NOSIG=
FMCH 292300Z 21025G35KT 9999 FEW020 25/16 Q1017 TEMPO 18015G30KT=
FMCH 300000Z 21025G35KT 9999 FEW020 25/17 Q1016 TEMPO 19014KT=
Moroni Hahaya International Airport surface meteorogram
For additional information, see Yemenia Flight 626: A detailed meteorological analysis by Tim Vasquez.