Ethiopian Airline Jet Crashes at Sea

Freetown

Freetown

JF-Expert Member
Apr 6, 2008
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An Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane is reported to have crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after taking off from Beirut airport. Lebanese aviation sources said the plane was heading for the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and had 85 passengers on board.
Reuters news agency quotes airport sources as saying that about 50 of the passengers were Lebanese nationals.
The majority of the remaining passengers were Ethiopian, they add.
Thousands of Ethiopians are employed as domestic helpers in Lebanon.
 
Yes ..nimeipata live hii early this morning...Poleni sana ndugu zetu mulioathirika, Mungu anayeishi awarehemu.

Check up za ndege ni parameter muhimu sana katika aviation sector.

One mistake one goal.

Ndege hii inasemekana imepoteza mawasiliano ya radar, baada ya kifaa chake cha kutransmit kufeli!...too bad!


Ethiopian Airlines Plane Crashes Into Sea After Beirut Take-Off

January 25, 2010, 12:27 AM EST
Massoud A. Derhally



Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- An Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after taking off from Beirut early this morning.

"We haven't found any survivors yet," Minister of Public Works and Transport Ghazi Al-Aridi said in a phone interview. The aircraft left Rafik Hariri International Airport at 2:10 a.m., said an airport official, who declined to be identified because they weren't authorized to speak to the media.

The Boeing Co. plane carried 90 passengers and crew, including 54 Lebanese nationals, according to state-run Lebanese National News Agency. Flight ET409 was bound for Addis Ababa, according to the airport's Web site.

Wreckage has been found off the Lebanese coast and the navy and civil defense force are taking part in rescue efforts amid heavy rains, the news agency said. Flames were seen coming from the aircraft before the crash near Na'ameh town, south of Beirut, the news agency said.

Calls to state-owned Ethiopian Airlines' media office in Addis Ababa and to the mobile phone of Chief Executive Officer Girma Wake went unanswered. Boeing spokeswoman Sandy Angers said she didn't have any confirmation of the crash yet and wasn't able to immediately comment.

Ethiopian Airlines operates a fleet of 37 predominately Boeing planes, according to its Web site. It also has orders outstanding for aircraft including 10 787 Dreamliners, 12 Airbus SAS A350s and 5 Boeing 777s, according to the site. The airline and Boeing announced a deal for 10 737s on Jan. 22.

The carrier hasn't suffered a fatal crash since November 1996, when 125 people died during a hijacking onboard a Boeing 767 bound for Abidjan, Ivory Coast, according to the Flight Safety Foundation.


source hii-hapa!
 
BEIRUT – An Ethiopian Airlines plane carrying 90 people crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in flames early Monday just minutes after takeoff from Beirut, authorities said.
Four bodies were recovered in the hours after the crash as authorities combed through the choppy waters under gray skies and driving rain, a Lebanese military official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Lebanon has been slammed by stormy weather since Sunday night, with crackling thunder, lightning and pouring rain.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said terrorism was not suspected.
"Sabotage is ruled out as of now," he said.
The Boeing 737-800 took off around 2:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. EST) for the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, said Ghazi Aridi, the public works and transportation minister.
"The weather undoubtedly was very bad," Aridi told reporters at the airport. He added that the plane went down about 2 miles (3.5 kilometers) off the Lebanese coast.
The Lebanese army said in a statement saying the plane was "on fire shortly after takeoff."
The wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon was on the plane, according to an embassy official who asked that his name not be used because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Helicopters and naval ships were scrambled for a rescue effort in poor conditions. Huge waves lapped the shore as several ships plowed through the water.
Ethiopian Airlines released a statement on its Web site confirming the plane was missing.
"A team is already working on gathering all pertinent information," the statement said. "An investigative team has already been dispatched to the scene and we will release further information as further updates are received."
Calls to the airline were not immediately returned.
Relatives of the passengers began arriving at the airport early Monday, many of them crying and hugging. Officials led them into a VIP area.
The plane was carrying 90 people, including 83 passengers and 7 crew. Aridi identified the passengers as 54 Lebanese, 22 Ethiopians, one Iraqi, one Syrian, one Canadian of Lebanese origin, one Russian of Lebanese origin, a French woman and two Britons of Lebanese origin.
Ethiopian Airlines reported that there were 82 passengers and eight crew; the discrepancy could not immediately be explained.
Ethiopian Airlines has long had a reputation for high-quality service compared to other African airlines, with two notable crashes in more than 20 years.
A hijacked Ethiopian Airlines jet crash-landed off the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean when it ran out of fuel in November 1996, killing 126 of the 175 people aboard. The plane had just left Addis Ababa when three hijackers stormed the cockpit and demanded to be taken to Australia.
In September 1988, an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed shortly after taking off when it ran into a flock of birds, killing 31 of the 104 people on board.


Source: Yahoo!
 
Mwenyezi Mungu awalaze mahali pema amina!!
Hapa ndo ambapo safari zinatisha Mungu wangu!
 
Passenger Plane Plunges Into Mediterranean
Plane crashes into Mediterranean Sea

56 mins ago


Two Britons were among 90 people on board a plane which crashed into the Mediterranean sea.

3641480706-plane-crashes-mediterranean-sea.jpg




The Ethiopian Airlines flight disappeared off the rader, five minutes after taking off from Beirut International airport in Lebanon in the early hours of Monday.
The Lebanese transport minister Ghazi al-Aridi said rescue workers have located the site where the plane went down.
He said search and rescue operations were under way but refused to give any further details. He also said it was too early to say what caused the crash but confirmed the plane took off the airport in stormy weather.
Most of those on board were Lebanese or Ethiopian, but two were British.
A spokesman for the British military stationed in Cyprus said they were on standby to provide assistance and that there were two UN helicopters on the scene.


video: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20100125/twl-plane-crashes-into-mediterranean-sea-41f21e0.html


Ethiopian plane leaving Lebanon with 90 on board crashes into sea, police rule out terrorism
By Elizabeth A. Kennedy (CP) – 1 hour ago


Relatives of the passengers of the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed in the sea arrive at Beirut airport. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Hussein Malla)


BEIRUT - An Ethiopian Airlines plane carrying 90 people crashed into the Mediterranean Sea early Monday just minutes after takeoff from Beirut, Lebanon's transportation minister said.
The cause was not immediately known. But police ruled out terrorism and said the crash was likely weather-related. Beirut has seen heavy rain and lightning since Sunday.
The Boeing 737-800 took off around 2:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. EST) for the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, said Ghazi Aridi, the public works and transportation minister.
"The weather undoubtedly was very bad," Aridi told reporters at the airport. He added that the plane went down about 2 miles (3.5 kilometres) off the Lebanese coast.
The wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon was on the plane, according to an embassy official who asked that his name not be used because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Helicopters and naval ships were scrambled to find the plane.
Ethiopian Airlines released a statement on its Web site confirming the plane was missing.
"A team is already working on gathering all pertinent information," the statement said. "An investigative team has already been dispatched to the scene and we will release further information as further updates are received."
Calls to the airline were not immediately returned.
Relatives of the passengers began arriving at the airport early Monday, many of them crying and hugging. Officials led them into a VIP area.
The plane was carrying 90 people, including 83 passengers and 7 crew. Aridi identified the passengers as 54 Lebanese, 22 Ethiopians, one Iraqi, one Syrian, one Canadian of Lebanese origin, one Russian of Lebanese origin, a French woman and two Britons of Lebanese origin.

Associated Press writers Zeina Karam and Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Samson Haileyesus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia contributed to this report.






http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iXriukcW7ilKOY-VUtPqnIFHw9MA
Click to expand...


Two bodies found at Ethiopian plane crash site

Published: 01.25.10, 09:02 / Israel News
Lebanese search teams recovered two bodies from the site of a crashed Ethiopian Airlines plane off the coast of Lebanon on Monday, a Lebanese security official said.

The bodies were the first found from the site where the plane carrying 90 people crashed shortly after taking off from Beirut airport in bad weather in the early hours of the morning. (Reuters)
Click to expand...
 
Habari iliyotolewa na BBC leo asubuhi,inasema kuwa ndege ya shirika la la ndege la Ethiopia imezama katika bahari ya Mediterania muda mfupi tu baada ya kuruka toka Beirut airport ikiwa na abiria wapatao 90.
 
SABOTAGE?????
It is said that the B787-800Dreamliner caught fire and explosion was heard prior to the plunge into the mediterranean sea.
 
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvSDojsCT-I[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEyIt98Bz3Q[/ame]
 
Abunwasi said:
SABOTAGE?????
It is said that the B787-800Dreamliner caught fire and explosion was heard prior to the plunge into the mediterranean sea.
Click to expand...

Bra abunwas, it is the B737-800 and not B787-800. This one still on the flying tests.
Poleni wana familia mliopoteza ndugu, jamaa, wanahewa...
 
Nashukuru kwa taarifa. Nina wasiwasi kweli maana Waafrika mashariki wengi huwa wanapanda hii ndege.
 
Ndugu zetu,hili shirika limekuwa muhimu kwetu sisi watu wa kipato kidogo. Yawezekana ilikuwa na watanzania kwani hili shirika lina wateja wengi sana watanzania.
 
Siwezi kushangaa kama kulikuwa na Watz. Mwezi mmoja uliopita nilitumia ndege hiyo via Addis Ababa to Beyrouth. My God. Mungu ni Mkuu. SIku ikifika imefika.
 
Ethiopian jet crash bodies pulled from sea off Beirut

_47178835_beirut_aircrash_466.gif



At least 24 bodies of people killed in an Ethiopian Airlines plane crash off Beirut have been pulled from the sea.

Addis Ababa-bound Flight ET409 burst into flames and crashed into the Mediterranean shortly after take-off from Beirut airport in stormy weather.

Rescuers are continuing to search for bodies and wreckage, but officials say it is very unlikely that any of the 90 people on board will be found alive.


A Lebanese minister said "bad weather was apparently the cause of the crash".

"We have ruled out foul play so far," Defence Minister Elias Murr told reporters.

The plane took off in a heavy rainstorm and there has been speculation that it was struck by lightning.

Some relatives of those on board have been asking why the plane was allowed to take off in such poor conditions, the BBC's Andrew North in Beirut reports.

Officials said that 83 passengers and seven crew were on board the Boeing 737-800. This model can seat 189 passengers. Most were Lebanese or Ethiopian.

The UK Foreign Office said there was one British national and one person of dual nationality.
The other passengers included citizens of Turkey, France, Russia, Canada, Syria and Iraq, Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement on its website.
Among them was the wife of the French ambassador in Beirut, Marla Pietton.

Some of the foreign passengers are reported to be of Lebanese origin.

Debris washed up

The plane disappeared from radar screens some five minutes after take-off in stormy weather at about 0200 local time, near the village of Naameh, about 3.5km (2 miles) from the coast.

Helicopters and naval ships are searching the crash site. It is still being described as a rescue operation, although officials say that in such bad weather it is unlikely anyone will be found so long after the crash.

The United Nations peacekeeping operation in Lebanon has sent three ships and two helicopters, and a British RAF helicopter is also involved.

Lebanese soldiers are also combing nearby beaches, where pieces of the plane and debris including passenger seats, a fire extinguisher and bottles of medicine have washed up.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said foul play was not suspected.

"As of now, a sabotage act is unlikely. The investigation will uncover the cause," he said. "The weather conditions are terrible, but rescue efforts are still under way."

One witness, Abdel Mahdi Salaneh, told the BBC he saw the plane fall into the sea in flames.

"We saw a flash in the sky," he said. "We saw a flash over the sea and it was the plane falling. The weather was really bad, it was all thunder and rain."

The BBC's Will Ross in Nairobi says the crash is likely to invite comparisons with the Kenya Airways crash in Cameroon in 2007, in which 114 people died.

Both incidents involved Boeing 737-800 aircraft taking off in bad weather.

Relatives of the passengers, some of them sobbing, gathered in the airport's VIP lounge.
A tearful Andree Qusayfi told the Associated Press that his brother, 35-year-old Ziadh, had left for Ethiopia to work for a computer company.

"We begged him to postpone his flight because of the storm," he said. "But he insisted on going because he had work appointments."

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, parliament speaker Nabih Berri and other officials went to comfort families.

Mr Hariri declared a day of mourning, and closed schools and government offices.

Ethiopia and Lebanon share close business ties, and thousands of Ethiopians are employed as domestic helpers in Lebanon.

Many of the Lebanese passengers are believed to have been planning to take connecting flights to West Africa.

Fleet expanding

Ethiopian Airlines operates a regular flight between Addis Ababa and Beirut.

Our correspondent says that along with South African and Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines is widely considered to be among sub-Saharan Africa's best operators.

And on a continent with a history of national airlines folding often due to reckless financial mismanagement, he says, Ethiopian Airlines is expanding its fleet and was the first African airline to order the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
It has also just announced the purchase of another 10 737-800s, at a cost of $750m.

Its last major crash was in 1996, when a hijacked Nairobi-Addis Ababa plane ditched into the sea off the Comoros Islands after running out of fuel. Of the 175 people on board, 123 were killed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8478828.stm
 
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