About The Airbus

Designed for short to medium-haul routes, the Airbus 320 has been flying passengers for 12 years.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates domestic U.S. accidents only, lists three incidents involving the A320, none of them fatal.

But a number of deadly accidents have occurred overseas.

In January, a Kenya Airlines Airbus A-310 went down in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to Lagos, Nigeria. Ten people survived, 169 died.

On December 11, 1998, an Thai Airways Airbus A-310 crashed on a domestic flight during its third landing attempt at Surat Thani, Thailand, killing 101 people. Forty five people aboard survived.

A Garuda Airlines Airbus A-300-B4 crash in Indonesia killed 234 people on Sept. 26, 1997.

Two died on Sept. 14, 1993, when a Lufthansa A320-200 experienced brake problems as it landed at Warsaw Airport, Poland and the aircraft overran the runway.

The Jan. 20, 1992 crash of an Air Inter A320 near Strasbourg, France killed 87.

Ninety-two people perished when an Indian Airlines A320 went down on approach to Bangalore, India on Feb. 14, 1990.

In July 1988, an Iran Air A300 Airbus was accidentally shot down over the Persian Gulf by the USS Vincennes, killing 290 people.

On June 26, 1988, an Air France A320 crashed into trees near Mulhouse-Habsheim Airport during an air show maneuver when the aircraft failed to gain height during a low pass with the gear extended. Three of the 136 passengers were killed.

Eric Moody, a former British Airways captain familiar with the aircraft said, "It's got a fair safety record," although he adds, "it's had one or two problems in the landing phase, when it gets in automatic pilot where it's…hit the ground."

The jet is flown with computers that are controlled by a small joystick in the cockpit, reports CBS News Transportation Correspondent Bob Orr.

"The A320 has an excellent safety record in the ten or more years it has been in airline service," said Jim McKenna, an aviation safety analyst.

Moody also told CBS News Correspondent Kimberly Dozier that Gulf Air is "an airline that has a very good safety record."

Airbus Industrie is the world's No. 2 commercial aircraft manufacturer, behind Boeing. It provides nearly one-third of the world's commercial jetliners.

It is a consortium made up of aerospace companies from Britain, France, Spain and Germany.