Two British nationals were among the 90 passengers and crew on board an Ethiopian Airlines plane which crashed into the Mediterranean shortly after take-off from Beirut's international airport.
Debris of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea near Beirut Photo: EPA
According to Lebanese officials, the aircraft disappeared from radar screens five minutes after taking off from Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport Photo: AP Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 was just minutes into its journey to Addis Ababa when the Boeing 737-800 plunged into the sea in what witnesses described as a "ball of fire". At least 23 bodies have been recovered so far and there have been no reports of survivors. According to Lebanese officials, the aircraft disappeared from radar screens five minutes after taking off from Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport during a thunder storm and heavy rain. Shortly after 2.40am local time (0040 GMT), it crashed into the sea two miles west of the coastal village of Na'ameh, Ghazi Aridi, Lebanon's transport minister, said at the airport. Na'ameh lies six miles south of Beirut. Emergency crews were ordered to begin what the minister described as a "search and rescue" operation", terminology which signalled that the Lebanese authorities have not yet abandoned hopes of finding survivors. President Michel Suleiman said terrorism was not suspected in the crash. "Sabotage is ruled out as of now," he said.
Saad Hariri, Lebanon's prime minister, declared Monday a national day of mourning. After arriving at the airport to offer comfort to the relatives of those on board the flight, he said: "We are working with all the power we have to try and find missing people from this tragedy."We are working to find the black box that will tell us what really happened on the plane." Lebanese army patrol boats were seen scouring the waters around the crash site. Helicopters from nearby Cyprus were also heading towards the scene, while British soldiers stationed on the island were ordered to remain on standby to assist if required. The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNAFIL, also sent helicopters to the crash site. An investigation into the cause of the crash has been launched. Officials declined to say whether or not fierce winds and driving rain that lashed the Levantine coast overnight could have been a factor. Of the 83 passengers and seven crew on board the stricken aircraft, 54 were Lebanese nationals and 22 were Ethiopians. Two passengers carried British passports, while Canadian, French, Russian, Iraqi and Syrian nationals were also listed on the passenger manifest. In London, the Foreign Office said a British national and a British dual national were on board. A spokesman said their identities would not be released until their next of kin were informed. Distressed family members of the Lebanese passengers on board gathered in a cordoned off area of Rafik Hariri airport to await news. One woman was sobbing and screaming "Why, why?" as other anguished relatives fainted and had to be carried out of the airport lounge by Red Cross volunteers. Another woman said she had lost all hope of finding her husband. "He's my life. They won't find him, I know it, they won't find him," she wailed as her mother hugged her. In Addis Ababa, Girma Wake, the CEO of Ethiopia's national airline, which operates one of Africa's largest commercial passenger fleets, said the aircraft had last been serviced on Christmas Day and had passed its inspection. In a continent with a reputation for lax aviation standards, Ethiopian Airlines is widely respected for its professionalism and attention to safety. Operating a fleet dominated by Boeing and with ambitious plans to expand into the Asian market, the company's aircraft are on average newer than most of its US and European competitors. Until Monday, the airline had not been involved in a major crash since November 1996, when a Nairobi-bound passenger jet was commandeered by hijackers in one of the most bizarre incidents in aviation history. Claiming to have a bomb on board, the intoxicated hijackers demanded to be flown to Australia, ignoring the pleas of the captain that the aircraft did not have sufficient fuel for so long a journey. Forced to fly out into the Indian Ocean, the captain secretly directed the aircraft to the Comoros islands and, once it had run out of fuel, attempted an emergency landing on the water close to a beach packed with tourists. All but 50 of the 175 people on board were killed when the aircraft struck an unseen coral reef. Many passengers died because they had inflated their life jackets before leaving the aircraft and became trapped in the flooded cabin. It subsequently emerged that the hijacker's "bomb" was in actual fact a covered bottle of whisky.
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