ET409: Last words of the pilot ‘we’re finished, God have mercy on us’

“We’re finished … God have mercy on us,” were the last words of the pilot of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET409 before crashing into the Mediterranean Sea on January 25, 2010.

ET409: Cabinet to release report on the crash next week

Lebanon’s Information Minister Tarek Mitri told reporters following Thursday’s cabinet session that the cabinet will issue next week its comprehensive report on the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines plane of flight ET409 .
Mitri also said the families of the crash victims would be briefed on the reports prior to its release.
“I believe that everyone is prioritizing the concerns and questions of the families of the victims,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Saad Hariri wants to meet with the families of the victims .
The Boeing 737 crashed minutes after takeoff from Beirut International airport on January 25th . All the 90 passengers and crew on board were killed. The 2 black boxes were found and sent to France for analysis

Body of French amabssador’s wife flown to Paris

The body of Mrs. Marla Sanchez Pietton, wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash of flight ET409 last January 25 was flown to Paris today on board an Air France jet

Mitri: Lebanon cabinet adopted proportional representation

Lebanon’s Information Minister Tarek Mitri briefed the media following the cabinet meeting at the Baabda palace.
Municipal elections :
-The cabinet adopted proportional representation for the upcoming municipal elections and asked Interior Minister Baroud to prepare a new draft law, in which he includes all the proposed amendments to the municipal electoral law for a final discussion in the cabinet. The cabinet will meet on February 27 to discuss Baroud’s new draft. The draft law once adopted will be referred to the parliament. Baroud has repeated that his ministry is ready to hold elections on time .
US military aid:
- Defense Minister Murr discussed his visit to Washington and the US five-year military aid program to the national army. Murr said the US financial aid would be based on priorities set by the Lebanese army.
-Murr also said he discussed the issue of special security measure that Lebanese will be subjected to when traveling to the US and asked the US to take Lebanon off the list . He said the US officials expressed understanding toward his demands.

Crashed Ethiopian airlines flight ET409:
- President Suleiman highlighted the importance of retrieving the crucial component of the crashed Ethiopian plane’s second black box ( CVR) .
-PM Hariri said the cockpit voice recorder of the crashed Ethiopian plane was sent to France. He also said the report of the investigation committee as well as the Lebanese report, will be finalized soon. Hariri said he is determined to meet with the families of the victims.
Mitri said We have always wanted to present our report to the families of the victims of the crashed plane. The cabinet will issue soon a detailed report on the plane’s crash.

Foreign visitors:
The visits by the Gerard Larcher, head of the French senate and US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns were discussed .President Suleiman said Larcher’s visit confirmed Lebanon’s solid relations with France. PM Hariri said Burns confirmed US rejection of Palestinian naturalization.

ET409 crash: Should the search for victims continue or stop?

Shiite Ulamas ( Muslim scholars) are likely to issue a Fatwa, or Islamic ruling, to end the search for the remaining victims of the Ethiopian plane flight ET409 that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea last Jan. 25th killing all 90 people on board.
The Ulamas, tend to believe that the “sea, in itself, is a legitimate graveyard,” and therefore, search operations can stop.
Ulamas’ viewpoint and expected fatwa are likely to gain support of political and Shiite authorities.
Sheikh Ahmed Qabalan, President of the Higher Shiite Council however, is not in favor of ending the search until all remains of victims are found
In a statement issued late Monday, Qabalan stressed” the need to recover all the bodies from the sea so that we can carry out our duty of burying the victims in the soil.”
Qabalan urged the Lebanese army and security forces to carry on efforts to pull all the remains of victims from the sea off the coast of Naameh south of Beirut.
The families of the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash victims are expected to meet with Sheikh Qabalan at 2pm on Wednesday.

ET409 crash: Missing part of black box recovered

The part that was missing from the cockpit voice recorder ( CVR black box) that was found on February 10 was recovered Monday , Lebanon’s Transportation and Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi announced.

Aridi said the recovered part was handed over to the investigation committee formed to probe the plane crash.

This part holds the memory of the CVR of the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET409 that crashed last January 25 minutes after take off from Beirut airport … it is the most crucial part of the box.

It was retrieved by the Lebanese army divers. A statement issued by the Lebanese army said navy commandos recovered the memory recorder of the cockpit voice recorder off the coast of Naameh, the site of the plane crash.

The other black box the flight data recorder ( FDR) was already found and sent to Paris for analysis

Meanwhile, search teams were able to pull more remains of victims on Tuesday.

The remains of 11 more plane crash victims were identified on Monday, raising the number of Lebanese victims identified to 41 from 54.

ET409 crash: DNA testing identified 60 victims

DNA testing has so far identified the remains of 60 of the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines crash of flight ET409 and more testing is being done today
The Lebanese army divers are in the final stages of the search for victims of the plane crash according to local reports. 90 passengers and crew members were on the plane when it crashed last January, minutes after takeoff from the Beirut Airport. One black box was found and sent to Paris for analysis but the other black box ( cockpit voice recorder ) was missing a vital part when it was found and the Lebanese army is still searching for it.
The recovering of the remaining debris of the plane is awaiting a decision by the international committee investigating the crash.

ET409: Remains of 5 Ethiopians returned home

The families of the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET409 crash issued a statement following their meeting at Rafik Hariri state hospital in which they said:
“With all our respect to those who worked in the rescue operations, what we have heard about the plane is not convincing.”
The statement added: “We are not accusing anyone. There could have been a technical malfunction but officials should take into consideration the families’ feelings.”
The remains of five Ethiopians victims that were killed in the airliner crash were handed over to an Ethiopian delegation to be returned to their home country according to the National News Agency.

ET409 crash : Remains of more victims identified

DNA testing has identified the remains of more victims of the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET409 that crashed last January 25 minutes after taking off from beirut airport :
Mohammed Mustafa Badawi, Tanal Abdallah Fardoun, Assaad Massoud Feghaly, and Haifa Ahmed Wazneh. The relatives of the victims were notified and will be handed over the remains on Saturday according to The National News Agency (NNA)
The Ethiopian embassy will also be receiving tomorrow the remains of five victims
The Divers of the Lebanese Navy Commando Unit have recovered more remains of victims today. DNA testing will be used for identification.
The divers also recovered seven suitcases belonging to the Ethiopian plane victims as well as passports and other personal belongings
Meanwhile Khalil Madani , one of the victims was laid to rest in his hometown of Deir Qanoun.
According to Al Manar TV, the remains of Marla Sanchez Pietton, French Ambassador’s wife were not handed over yesterday as originally planned. They will however be handed over tomorrow to an embassy delegation .

Lebanon president wants muncipal elections on time

During his address to the cabinet at its meeting at the Baabda Palace on Thursday, President Michel Suleiman called for holding the upcoming municipal elections on time, even if the proposed reforms to the municipal electoral law are not adopted.
Suleiman praised the army’s rescue operations and said that Lebanon dealt in an effective and civilized manner with the crash of the Ethiopian airlines flight ET409.
Suleiman called for solidarity in face of Israeli threats against Lebanon.
Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun announced earlier Thursday that his bloc would oppose the elections if the reforms to the electoral law are not passed.