According to As Safir newspaper sources  the captain of the Ethiopian airliner received instruction form the control tower of Beirut airport  one minute after  taking off  to change direction in order to avoid the path of a storm. The captain reportedly responded  positively  but did not do as directed . He reportedly received  another call and again he promised to  follow the instructions but didn’t .

The airport reported that several airlines took off minutes before and after the Ethiopian airliner and all were ok.

An  Ethiopian government official Shimeles Kemal, who is the state minister for communication   said the plane caught fire five minutes after takeoff. The official also said that the airline did not receive any threats and does not think there was any foul play involved