The Ballad of Younis and Sofia
Lyrics
Younes Khayati and Sofia Figuigui were co-pilots of Royal Air Maroc Twin Engine ATR 42 that crashed into the Atlas Mountains 10 minutes into a routine flight from Agadir to Casablanca on August the 20th, 1994.
Mohamed Mouffid, civil aviation Director at the Ministry of Transport said, "the only reason for the accident is the deliberate desire of the captain, who switched off the automatic pilot, hurled the aircraft at the ground." It was a deliberate decision to commit suicide.
Amina ben Tayeb, Khayati's mother said, "My son is sane. He cannot commit suicide, much less kill anyone, because he loves everyone. He has no problems, family or otherwise."
Younes planned to marry at years' end and he was due to be promoted to jets. He even bought furniture for a new house.
Sofia and Younes were sweethearts.
The black box showed the conversation at the end went something like this: "Help! Help! The pilot is—" "Die! Die!"
Funeral services were held in ? for the victims. 8 Italians, 4 French, 4 Dutch, 2 Kuwaitis, 1 German, and 22 of them Moroccans, besides Younes and Sofia. Younes and Sofia...
Chronology
Amor and Language 
- Mayo Thompson - vocals
- Stephen Prina - additional vocals
Interpretations
- Based on real airline crash Royal Air Maroc Flight 630
- Some of information in the song appears to be quoted from a 1994 Associated Press article, "Relatives cast doubt on suicide air crash"
- "Younes" is misspelled as "Younis" in the song's title (as well as some articles on the crash). The above article misspells it "Yunes"
- The format of the title is likely a reference to the traditional murder ballad genre
Live performances
| Show | ||
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| 2000 | video, partial |
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Various artists compilations
- 1996: This Means War: Drag City (Japan)
- 1998: Ihr Werdet Alle Sterben[1] - Wendy Gondeln remix
References
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