Some crashes with sole survivors

This is the 15th time since 1970 that there has been a single survivor in an airliner crash. What's even more amazing is that of those 15 survivors, 12 have either been children or crew members. "Once again, it's a child or a crew member, and I have no idea why," said Todd Curtis, director of the Airsafe.com Foundation, which tracks aviation disasters. Here's a look at commercial airline crashes in recent decades with a sole survivor:

May 12, 2010: An Afriqiyah Airways Airbus crashed on approach to Tripoli, Libya, with 104 people on board. A 10-year-old boy was the only survivor.

June 30, 2009: A Yemenia Airlines flight crashed into the Indian Ocean off the Comoros Islands, killing 152 people. A 12-year-old girl clinging to debris survived.

Aug. 27, 2006: A Comair commuter jet mistakenly taking off on a runway that was too short crashed into a field in Lexington, Ky., killing 49 people. The copilot, pulled from the cockpit, was the lone survivor. He lost his left leg and suffered other injuries, including some brain damage.

July 8, 2003: A Sudan Airways flight that reported technical problems after takeoff crashed about 3 miles from the Port Sudan airport, killing 116 people. The only survivor, a 3-year-old, was crying when he was found by a nomad. The boy lost his right leg and suffered burns.

March 6, 2003: An Air Algerie passenger jet, one of its engines ablaze, crashed shortly after takeoff in the Sahara Desert. A young soldier survived; 102 people were killed.

Dec. 15, 1997: A Tajikistan Airlines plane on a charter flight crashed minutes before it was to land at the Sharjah Airport in the United Arab Emirates. Eighty-five people died; the pilot survived.

Nov. 14, 1992: A Vietnam Airlines flight crashed near the Vietnamese beach resort of Nha Trang after it struck a ridge. All six crew members and 24 of the 25 passengers were killed. The sole survivor, a 31-year-old Dutch woman, was taken to a local clinic, and villagers informed national authorities of her survival only when she regained consciousness a week later.

Aug. 16, 1987: Northwest Airlines Flight 255 stalled after takeoff and crashed onto a highway just after takeoff from Detroit. All six crew and 148 of 149 passengers were killed, as were two people on the ground. The sole survivor was a 4-year old girl found strapped in her airplane seat.

Jan. 26, 1972: A Yugoslav Airlines flight blew up over Czechoslovakia, and flight attendant Vesna Vulovic survived a 33,000-foot fall in the plane's tail cone, landing on a heavily wooded slope. Vulovic broke both legs and was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. All 27 of the other passengers and crew on the airliner died.