Lebanese army identifies location of ET409 wreckage and black boxes

The  Lebanese army has identified the location of the flight recorders   ( black boxes)   and the wreckage of the  Ethiopian   as being about 8 km ( 5 miles )  from the Beirut  airport and at  a depth of 1300 meters ( 4262 ft).  New TV has reported   that  these need  highly sophisticated and technologically advanced  equipment in order to be recovered  and their recovery  will take several days

ET409 crash: Aridi says the boxes will provide the answers

Lebanon’s Transport and Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi said today no one knows exactly what happened to the plane, and the flight recorders ( black boxes) will provide the answers. He cautioned against blaming ET409 plane crash on the pilot calling this ” pure speculation at this stage in the investigation”
Aridi said the pilot had 20 years of experience and was familiar with the Boeing 737-800.
Aridi said as the weather improves the recovery efforts will also improve

ET409: Lebanon searches for victims of Ethiopian jet crash

Lebanese and international search teams scoured the Mediterranean coast on Tuesday for the victims and missing flight recorders of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed into the sea

ET409: conflicting reports about the wreckage

There were many conflicting reports Tuesday about whether the wreckage of Ethiopian airline flight ET409 which crashed in the Mediterranean sea off Lebanon coast Monday was found or not.

Future News television said the plane had been located on the sea-bed and that work is underway to lift the wreckage
However Minister of Public Works and Transportation Ghazi Aridi denied on Tuesday that the wreckage ET409 has been located. He said that the authorities have determined the general area where the fuselage should be, adding that teams have been searching the area since 9 a.m. and that they will continue for 24 hours more.
Aridi also said that search teams are still looking for the 2 black boxes [ airplane’s flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR)]

ET409 crash: French investigation team arrived in Beirut

Two members from the French Accident Investigation Bureau for Civil Aviation (BEA) arrived in Beirut to participate in the ongoing investigations in the Ethiopian ET409 plane crash.
Among the names on the passenger list was that of Marla Sanchez Pietton, the wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon. The French embassy yesterday declined to comment on the fate of the French ambassador’s wife according to An Nahar newspaper

ET409 pilot blamed for the crash

The Ethiopian jet that crashed into the sea off Beirut on Monday did not fly in the direction suggested by Beirut’s control tower, Lebanese officials said.

Captain of crashed airliner didn’t follow Beirut airport instructions

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

Baroud: The priority should be the rescue operation

Lebanese Minister of Interior Ziad Baroud said in reference to Ethiopian plane crash: “The disaster must be addressed by experts in this field and the priority right now is not to investigate the incident , but to rescue the bodies of the passengers .”
He said in an interview with “OTV “, “in Lebanon we are not accustomed to such disasters, we need system of crisis management, ” stressing that this is a day of solidarity and requires all Lebanese to support the efforts of the security forces and the military .
Baroud called on the citizens to inform the security forces and concerned departments immediately if they find anything related to the air crash without tampering with it.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Harir ( L) , Transportation and public works minister Ghazi Aridi ( C), Interior Minister Ziad Baroud (R) and Health Minister Mohammad Khalife  (R) behind Baroud are in a helicopter to view the scene of the plane crash

Health Minister: The issue of the bodies is very sensitive

Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalifeh said in reference to the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash: “There are some bodies beyond recognition because of the subsequent deformation. He added that “things are very difficult, since  a blood examination  must be  carried out under the supervision of the criminal evidence and therefore we need a lot of time and mistakes  in this issue are out of the question .”
He said in an interview with “MTV”, “when we have a sufficient number of bodies we will  call on the relatives to come an identify them  .”
Khalifa pointed out that these   are very sensitive issues  and “we can not hand over any body to anyone without making sure they are the rightful owners.

Lebanon: Ethiopian Airlines plane crash in pictures

Ethiopian Airline Flight 409 with 90 passengers on board exploded and plunged into the sea off Lebanon just after takeoff in stormy weather early on Monday.