However an aviation expert at the EU's executive arm underlined that 'black-listing must be done on the basis of purely technical questions. It must have nothing to do with politics.' On Friday, France warned Yemenia Airways that its name was on the line.

'This company is under strict surveillance,' Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau told RTL radio. 'If it does not want to go on the black list, it will have to make big efforts, very big efforts.' The commission has been more cautious.

'You don't just put a company on the list on the basis of one accident,' explained the expert, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's politically sensitive nature.

'There is a procedure to follow and the company concerned must have the right to defend itself,' the expert said.

Yemen's transport minister met with commission officials Friday and was warned that safety standards at Yemenia 'need to be addressed without delay", and company officials have been called for talks in Brussels this week.

The crash plane itself had 'worrisome defects", Bussereau said, which were detected during a maintenance check on the Airbus A310 two years ago. However those concerns did not stop it flying.

'That plane was inspected in 2007,' the expert said. 'It flew in Europe and no other country signalled that it was dangerous.' Yet French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the opposite.

'We, quite legitimately, warned the European Commission, the Yemeni aviation authorities and the company itself about the state of that aircraft,' he said.

An EU legal document from July 2008 revealed that Yemenia aircraft had safety 'deficiencies' during inspections in France, Germany and Italy, although it was unclear if the planes checked included the ill-fated Airbus.

Yemenia avoided the list when Airbus agreed to help remedy the problems. -- AFP