Captain Habtamu Benti Negasa, the pilot in command (PIC) of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 which crashed shortly after taking off from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport on January 25, may have had a premonition of impending disaster. News of his last comments before reporting for Flight ET409 has just surfaced. The Airlines/Airport Examiner is honored to bring you this exclusive report.
CAPTIONS: (ABOVE LEFT) The two sisters of Ethiopian Airlines plane crash victims Fuad and Abbas Jaber, sit at a beach where rescue teams search for the people who were aboard the plane and the black box of the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed on January 25 into the sea, in Naameh beach, south of Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday Feb. 6, 2010 (AP Photo/Hussein Malla); (BELOW RIGHT) 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 LEFT) An Ethiopian woman, a relative of a passenger of the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed into the sea on January 25, reacts at Rafik Hariri University Hospital as the Ethiopian consulate receive the recovered bodies of five nationals who were killed in the plane, in Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday Feb. 13, 2010 (AP Photo/Hussein Malla); ( BELOW RIGHT BOTTOM) Amal Haddad, the first woman to be President of the Beirut Bar Association (AP/Republic of Lebanon)
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Here is an extraordinary account by an investigative journalist writing for the Lebanese Arabic publication Al-Akhbar. The author tracked down a driver who took Captain Benti and two of his crew members to the airport on that fateful night.
With permission of that journalist, who for the present wishes to keep a low profile, what follows is a brief edited except of that final cab ride:
Ali Tleis, 28, is a taxi driver who often takes crews to and from the airport. He was the one to pick up the Ethiopian Airlines pilot and two flight attendants from the Hotel Commodore in Beirut on that fatal evening before the crash. He was also one of the last people to speak with members of the airline crew. "When the accident happened, thunderstorms had been battering the city for days. I remember driving along the shore that same morning. The winds were so strong and the waves kept washing over the road," Mr. Tleis said.
"I normally work with other airlines, but on this particular night I was asked to drop off the ET crew. It was dark and we only spent a short time together in the car and my English isn't very good, so it is difficult for me to describe the pilot in much detail. But I do remember what he said before stepping out of the taxi. He said, "I hope nothing will happen during our flight tonight. May God be with us". Then he turned around to his colleagues all smiles and jokes. "He must have sensed something was going to happen," the driver added.
Ethiopian Airlines, in a press release dated February 17, 2010 confirmed that the memory unit missing part of the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) from ET-409 has been recovered and sent to France for analysis. Ethiopian Civil Aviation delegate from Beirut and additional team member from Addis Ababa will participate in the reading of the Cockpit Voice Recorder.
In further developments, the judicial committee tasked with following up on the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash held its first meeting on Monday, February 15, while DNA tests revealed the identities of more victims.
The committee convened for the first time at the Justice Ministry and discussed the legal and humanitarian aspect of the disaster. The meeting was presided over by Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar.
"This committee was formed according to a decision by the Lebanese government and it collaborates with the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Affairs Ministry," said Najjar.
He added that the committee included aeronautics experts, insurance experts and magistrates and would handle the legal and humanitarian consequences of the crash.
Its members included Amal Haddad, the President of the Beirut Bar Association; Antoine Breidy, caretaker President of the Legislation and Consultation Committee; Lebanon's representative at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Suleiman Eid; Judge Raymond Farhat; head of the Beirut First Instance Court for Personal Status Affairs Habib Rizkallah; head of the Appeals Chamber of Commerce, Georges Harb; expert in aeronautics and former president of the Lebanese Pilot Association Abdel-Monem Hoteit; and State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza. The latter was unable to attend as he was out of the country.
We would like to hear your thoughts, and if you have ever had a premonition warning you of a disaster. Please leave comments below or by email and subscribe to get future updates.
Comments
Great coverage Joel,
Any idea how long it may take to get the info from the flight recorder?
Joel, fantastic coverage of this. I look forward to your alerts in my mailbox. I think you are the only journalist out there who is actually following this and trying to get answers from all sides. Great work!
I like to now what happen there?
I've had a few premonitions. Once I was going to Chicago to visit a friend- the train I was going to catch was delayed by 12 hours and then I took a greyhound bus; only it broke down after 45 minutes. I then got a friend to pick me up and take me home. I could have then driven but something told me to just not go. So I didn't. I don't know what would have happened but I felt uneasy inside about going as well and am glad that it never occured.
Great continued coverage of this tragic event.
you always keep delving deeper into the stories. great reporting, joel.
Thanks for continuing to provide great coverage on this important story...
Eerie that he senses something might go wrong. Very sad and tragic for all involved.
On another note, Happy Birthday Joel! What are you now 21? ;-)
working on your birthday, Joel? admirable.
have yourself a good one. let me know if you need drink recipes
You keep on top of all the news on the airlines.
Thanks for keeping us updated on this.
Great coverage of the last words of the Ethopian Captain, Joel. Happy BD!
This is a true story....My friend and I decided to go horseback riding one day, years ago. She swears she has ESP, premonitions and all of that...She told me we can't go horseback riding that day, it was a bad day for horseback riding. I thought she was nuts. I was annoyed but we didn't go. We found out later that her friend David went horseback riding that day and landed in the hospital and was physically messed up for years after that....eerie indeed. So now I listen to her.......In fact, fast forward to today....she knew that she was going to lose her job and today her company, which had NEVER indicated that they were in any financial trouble whatsoever, laid off a lot of people........she was one of them. Spooky................some people seem to have a gift.....I never would have believed it.
Great exclusive report. You have the inside info on this case...
people lets just wait for the final report ....
Comment continued...
The bets have been placed, no more bets. The little white ball spun around counter clockwise, against the turning wheel, in a staccato clicking that was almost hypnotic. It was the only sound I could hear in the otherwise noisy room. There was no need to watch, because as certain as anything I had ever actually experienced in my life, I already knew the outcome of this event. I turned away from the table and smiled, just as the croupier announced "vengt-deux noir", 22 black.
Regarding a comment by Ronna DeLoe,
Thanks for commenting about the horseback incident. I also once had an esp experience. I was living in Switzerland in my mid twenties, in Genera. Friends and I would like to pretend that we were Agent 007, James Bond, stirred not shaken, that sort of thing. One day we drove across the border to the casino at Divonne les Bains, France. I was playing roulette and was down to my last chip. Clearly, as if someone was whispering in my ear, I heard a voice say "22 black". I looked around. There was no one there. In fact, there was no one near me at all. I carefully placed my remaining chip directly on 22 black, covering the number. From the other side of the room, I could see my friend Arthur moving quickly towards me. Breathlessly he said, "Joel, I just got a hunch. Bet on 22 black." I replied calmly, "I know Arthur, I also had the same hunch." We could both hear the croupier say that familiar manta, "Les jeux son faits, rien ne va plus". More...
BEA, the French agency put in charge of the investigation by Boeing, Ethiopian Airlines and the Lebanese government never releases any information before the inquiry has been completed.
Still, what often happens is that one of the involved parties will anonymously leak partial information to the press if it is favorable to them.
So, don't believe anything until BEA releases its conclusions.
I feel Ethiopian Airlines is not owned by Ethiopians anymore and robed by a gunpoint by the minority. The Ethiopians working at Ethiopian Airlines have been robed Ethiopian Airlines right from under their feet by an Ethnicity that amounts to 6% of the total Ethiopian population which led to huge frustration among Ethiopians working at various levels with no recognition by their government. The Ethiopian government always gives praise to few if they donot work.The gibot7 group which the pilot was a member of have published details on their website.
If the pilot disrgard the instruction of tower.et accountable for it. full compensation for victim.
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