Ethiopian airliner black box recovered

After two weeks of searching the coastal waters of Lebanon, the Mediterranean Sea finally gave up one of the black boxes of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409. The Boeing 737-800 flight data recorder (FDR) was recovered in only 150 feet (45 meters) of water by Lebanese marine commandos, in Naameh, Lebanon, south of Beirut on Sunday, February 7, 2010.

The so-called "black box", actually painted bright orange in color, was found in a tail section of the aircraft. The jet had crashed about five minutes after taking off from Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport (BEY) on Monday, January 25, at about 2:30 a.m. local time, during lightening and thunderstorms. All 83 passengers and 7 crew members aboard the plane perished.

It has also been reported by the Associated Press that the Lebanese military stated that eight more bodies were recovered Sunday, raising the number of victims retrieved since the crash to 23.

CAPTIONS: (ABOVE LEFT) The black box of the Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed off the the Lebanese coast on Jan. 25, is seen placed in a sea water container shortly after it was pulled out by Lebanese marine commandos, in Naameh, Lebanon, Sunday February 7, 2010. (AP Photo);  (BELOW RIGHT TOP) Lebanese Red Cross workers, carry the body of one of eight victims who were recovered Sunday from the Ethiopian airplane that crashed in the sea on Jan. 25, into the Rafik Hariri Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday February 7, 2010 (AP Photo/Hussein Malla); (BELOW LEFT) Lebanese civil defense workers from the marine rescue unit, foreground, and vessels, background, continue operations in the search for victims bodies and parts of the wreckage of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed on January 25 into the sea, in Naameh, south of Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday February 7, 2010 (AP Photo/Hussein Malla); (BELOW RIGHT BOTTOM) An Ethiopian woman, a relative of a passenger of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed in the sea on January 25, reacts at Rafik Hariri Hospital after the Lebanese army recovered eight bodies from the crashed plane, in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday, February 7, 2010 (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A slide show follows this article with photos of the recovery efforts.

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The search for the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) continues. Both devices are normally located in the rear section of aircraft, which have the highest chance of surviving intact after a plane goes down.

An unnamed Lebanese army officer said the black box, which was carefully placed in a plastic container and taken to a naval base in Beirut, would later be handed over to a technical committee investigating the crash. It includes Lebanese, Ethiopian and French investigators.

U.S. Officials also are available on site to assist the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of the Government of Lebanon, which is the lead agency coordinating the crash investigation. NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman has designated senior investigator Dennis Jones as the U.S. Accredited Representative. His team includes technical advisors from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing.
 
Information coming from Lebanon has been fragmented, with public officials reluctant to speak on the record or to answer direct questions, as the Airlines/Airport Examiner determined when he personally called an official in Beirut. Most speak on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly respond to the media. This lack of transparency, scrutiny, and public dialogue often results in conflicting and unconfirmed information being released.

We will continue to follow these developments, and would like to hear your thoughts. Please leave comments below or by email and subscribe to get future updates.