According to published Associated Press (AP) and Reuters news reports, a U.S. Naval vessel located radio signals from the flight data and cockpit voice recorders of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 on Wednesday, January 27. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft crashed into the Mediterranean Sea early on Monday morning, January 25, shortly after taking off from Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport (BEY) during thunder storms.
The USS Ramage (DDG-61), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer based in Norfolk, Virginia, was brought in at the request of the Lebanese government to help with the search. A Lebanese army officer, speaking anonymously, indicated the ship locked onto radio signals from the flight recorders, which are located on the sea bed at a depth of about 3,900 feet (1,300 meters), and 6.2 miles (10 km) from Beruit's seaside airport.
CAPTIONS: (ABOVE LEFT) USS Ramage (Photo Credit - Wikipedia); (BELOW RIGHT UPPER) Civil defense workers load the coffin of victim of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 plane crash, Anis Mustafa Safa into an ambulance before handing him to his family at Beirut's government hospital, Lebanon, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010 (Photo Credit - AP Photo/Bilal Hussein); (BELOW LEFT) A Lebanese soldier, center, stands guard on Khalde beach looking for debris to be washed in from the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash (Photo Credit - AP Photo/Ben Curtis); (BELOW RIGHT LOWER) Ethiopian Airlines' CEO Girma Wake speaks to journalists in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Monday, January 25, 2010 (AP Photo/Samson Haileyesus)
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The devices are commonly referred to as "black boxes" although they are actually painted bright orange in color.
Lebanese and international teams, including European and U.N. peacekeeping ships, helicopters, planes and divers have been scouring a search area 6 miles (10 km) out to sea and 12 miles (20 km) long for the plane's fuselage and more of its victims. Rough seas have hampered search efforts.
There were 83 passengers and a crew of 7 aboard the aircraft, all of whom are believed to have perished. AP has reported 34 bodies have been found, but the Ethiopian Review states that only 14 bodies and some body parts have been recovered, and authorities have all but given up on finding survivors.
The plane, which is 8 years old, last underwent a maintenance check on December 25, 2009. No mechanical problems were discovered.
This is the second Ethiopian Airlines disaster. The last fatal incident happened in November 1996 when a hijacked Boeing 767, Flight 971, crashed off the Comoros Islands, killing 125 of the 175 passengers and crew.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), FAA, and Boeing are assisting the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of the Government of Lebanon, who are leading the crash investigation.
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Comments
Never knew the black boxes were orange. Wonder how they got that name. Guess black would be hard to spot in the ocean.
Always amazing that they eventually find what they are looking for. Hope that there is information that is vital to airline safety in order to learn from this tragedy. Never knew the boxes were not actually black. That would be a good article in of itself. Why are they called black?
we are very sure about our Airlines stuffs and experiance ..the famous ..we ethiopian proud very much.either they found it or not the blak box.( voice recorder in side the cokpit)we are deeply sad for all our brothers and sisters.and I WOULD LIKEE TO PASS MY SPECIAL APPRITIATION FOR ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT..
Regarding the comment below by "tady fm saudi riadh", and my dear readers in Lebanon, Ethiopia, the Middle East and beyond, my deepest sympathies go out to you for this great loss. We all share a common bond in our humanity, and are saddened whenever life is cut short.
For Ted and others who may be wondering about the origins of the term "Black Box", and why they are still called that, even though they are never painted black, this quote from Wikipedia might help:
"The black box term originated when after a meeting about the first commercial flight recorder named the "Red Egg" for its color and shape, someone commented: "This is a wonderful black box". Black box is a more humorous than accurate term and is almost never used within the flight safety industry. The word is from World War II RAF terminology. During the period 1940-1945 new electronic innovations, such as Oboe, GEE and H2S, were added to aircraft (specifically bombers) on a regular basis. The prototypes were roughly covered in hand-made metal boxes, painted black to prevent reflections. After a time any piece of "new" electronics was referred to as the "box-of-tricks" or the "black-box". An expression that made its way into post-war civil aviation and ultimately, general usage."
For some reason, I DID know that the black boxes are orange and not black. I think that has been mentioned in coverage of past air crashes. It is amazing to me how, in many cases, experts can reconstruct what happened through their investigation.
Nice update in your excellent series on this event...
Cheers...
Great follow-up; You always have the latest information.
My sympathies go out to the families of the crash victims. I'm glad they found the orange "black box;" hopefully they will find the answers they're looking for.
Great follow-up, Joel!
So sorry about this tragic event.
Now that they have located the black box (which is actually orange), have they been able to actually recover it???
I am so hopeful for the ethiopian people, that they may have the answers as to what happened on that flight- so that they may have closure for the lives of their friends, family, and their people as to what caused this horrible tragedy.
It is beyond sad.
Excellent report about a very sad situation. I suspect it'll be pilot error of some sort, but we'll have to wait for the investigation to issue its report. Horrible way to go.
I have read your news and articles. But I do have one question that I am unable to find answer while reading much news.
That is eye witness said that the plane has got fire while falling down. What can cause the fire, if the ATC let the plane to take off in better weather condition and no??
On the other hand, the Lebanese officials are saying that the pilot swiftly turn into wrong direction seconds before crashing. As you stated in your news "The pilot of the Boeing didn’t follow directions from the control tower” Do you think that this can cause a fire immediately with less than five minutes after take off ?? What are the probable reasons that make a pilot to turn the plane? Don’t you think that there is some internal or external element that can cause the fire? How should one can role out sabotage and terrorism? I need answer what case the fire when the plane is falling down or cause the plane to fall down? Imagine the whether is too cool and have rain. Usually a fire cause when a
It is always helpful to know what happened in an accident, so they can prevent it from happening again.
I believe it is always good to think positively and be optimistic. However, there are a lot of questions that couldn’t be addressed related to the Ethiopian plane that crashed at Lebanon yet. Leave alone the reason for the crash; why the black box couldn’t be recovered with in nine days attempt? Let’s come to the truth! We may be able to covert the truth today, but it is inevitable one day it will come up. The secret behind this flight’s crash should be divulged. To me, unforeseen technical & whether incidences for the cause of the tragedy share insignificant percentage. The global technology that searches the planets and planets get difficulty to recover the black box of the crashed plane at Mediterranean Sea with a distance of 1,300 meters; ha! Kidding!!
Why the issue of the Black Box from the crashed Ethiopian airline at Lebanon remains 'black'??? who knows what is going on at the see bed?
we want know what is going on?
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