Ethiopian Jet Crashes
Off Beirut
An
Ethiopian Airliner with 90 people on board caught fire and
crashed into the sea minutes after taking off from Beirut early
on Monday.
At least 34 bodies have been recovered, and search is
still on for more but no survivors have been found, so far.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known but, Lebanon
has seen stormy weather since Sunday night, with crackling
thunder, lightning and rain.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said terrorism was not
suspected in the crash of Flight 409, which was headed for the
Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
’’Sabotage is ruled out as of now,’’ he said.
According to a Lebanese defense official, the dead include
several children.
The French embassy also said the wife of Denis Pietton, the
French ambassador to Lebanon, was on the plane.
The Boeing 737-800 took off around 2:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. EST) and
went down 2 miles (3.5 kilometers) off the coast, said Ghazi
Aridi, the public works and transportation minister.
The Lebanese army said in a statement the plane was on fire
shortly after takeoff.
Pieces of the plane and debris were washing ashore in the hours
after the crash, including passenger seats, a baby sandal, a
fire extinguisher, suitcases and bottles of medicine.
A statement by the defense ministry in Cyprus, which sent
reinforcements to help in the search, said 34 bodies have
been recovered so far.
Good reputation
Poor visibility in low clouds combined with high winds may have
contributed to the problem faced by the pilots.
The state-owned Ethiopian Airlines has long had a reputation for
high-quality service compared to other African airlines, with
two notable crashes in more than 20 years.
A hijacked Ethiopian Airlines jet crash-landed off the Comoros
Islands in the Indian Ocean when it ran out of fuel in November
1996, killing 126 of the 175 people aboard. In
September 1988, an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed shortly after
taking off when it ran into a flock of birds, killing 31
of the 104 people on board.
Ethiopian Airlines announced last week that it signed an
agreement with Boeing to buy 10 more of the 737-800s at
an estimated $767 million. The order will expand the
airline's fleet from the 36 aircraft it has now — not
including the 737-800 that crashed Monday.
Yinka
