The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will dispatch an aviation investigator to assist the government of Lebanon in its review of the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines (ET) Boeing 737-800 off the coast of Lebanon. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, aircraft registration ET-ANB, tumbled into the sea on Monday, January 25, at about 2:30 a.m. local time, minutes after taking off from Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport (BEY) in poor weather.
Witnesses described a "ball of fire" falling from the sky. Lebanese army officials confirmed that the plane caught fire shortly after taking off, and broke into at least four pieces before impact 3.8 miles (6 km) off the coast. Terrorism has initially been ruled out.
CAPTIONS: (ABOVE LEFT) Map of Lebanon locating crash of Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 (Photo Credit - AFP); (BELOW RIGHT TOP) Map showing planned route between Beirut and Addis Ababa (Photo Credit - Google Maps); (BELOW LEFT) Boeing 737-800 as EI-CSW, moved to Ethiopian Airlines as ET-ANB in September 2009 (Photo Credit - Werner Fischdick, ASN); (BELOW RIGHT BOTTOM) Pieces of the plane and debris were washing ashore in the hours after the crash, including passenger seats, a fire extinguisher and bottles of medicine (Photo Credit - AP)
A video and slide show follows this article on the Ethiopian Airlines tragedy.
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Flight 409 was headed for Addis Ababa, the Ethiopean capital, with 82 passengers and 8 crew members on board, 54 of whom were Lebanese. There were no survivors. Initial reports indicated there were no U.S. citizens on the aircraft. Among those who perished, according to the U.K. newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, were two British passport holders. NPR reported that the wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon was also one of the victims.
According to Elias Murr, the Lebanese Defense Minister, "Bad weather was apparently the cause of the crash. We have ruled out foul play so far."
One aviation expert, speaking anonymously, said that the aircraft probably caught fire after what he described as a "fuel tank ignition event" that may have had nothing to do with the weather. It is remotely possible that a lightening strike caused the incident.
NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman has designated senior investigator Dennis Jones as the U.S.
Accredited Representative. His team will include technical advisors from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing. They will work closely with by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of the Government of Lebanon, who are leading the investigation.
Whenever an aircraft fails anywhere in the world, it is vital to investigate and determine precise causes, and eliminate structural or mechanical issues. These finding benefit the safety of all air travelers.
This aircraft first flew in January 2002 before being delivered by Boeing to Ryanair, under registration EI-CSW, and was operated by that carrier until June 2009. It was delivered with new livery colors and change or registration to Ethiopian Airlines on September 13, 2009. According to the Aviation Safety Network (ASN), the accident was the seventh loss of a Boeing 737-800.
NOTE TO READERS: For the last six months it has been my honor and privilege to report to you as the San Diego Airport Examiner. While my assignment has recently changed to that of the National Airlines/Airport Examiner, we will still continue covering San Diego aviation matters, and the larger universe of these events. Thank you for your continued support, interest, and readership.
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Comments
Great reporting, Joel... Seems like the NTSB should be the ITSB (International), as we investigate crashes all over the world.
Congrats on the new title. Look forward to continued local and international airline reports.
With all of these terrible tragedies and airline incidents, I'm getting very anxious about flying this weekend.
Scary stuff. Joel, great new title and great coverage.
Tx for the well composed story. Always a sad event with lots of work to do to find out the cause to prevent further crashes.
Joel, thanks for the detailed report on this sad event. Congratulations on your new title. You deserve it!
What a tragic event. Thanks for the detailed coverage.
What a tragedy. I heard this afternoon the plane was going in the wrong direction...but why?
Joel, looking forward to the events and stories you can now cover with the National title.
Rochester Dogs and Gardening Examiner
Excellent article Joel. Very informative!
great article with lots of info. such a tragedy - i heard the pilot was asked to change course; do not know if this is true. good luck in your new position Joel!
Great story!
I hope they are able to recover the recorder/black box and are able to determine what went wrong. It is odd to say the least.
Great coverage of this tragedy, Joel. Well done..
Cheers
I'm surprised that there hasn't been the usual bogus claims from the Arab community saying that the Israeli's either shot it down or blew it up. Sad enough without that input.
What is the finding(evidence) to rule out foul play hours into the accident?
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