Pilot error may have been factor in Ethiopian airliner disaster
Authorities categorically rule out terror attack

BEIRUT: The pilot commanding the Ethiopian Airlines plane which burst into flames and crashed into the sea with 90 people aboard on Monday morning had flown in the wrong direction, Transport and Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi said on Tuesday. Flight ET409 plunged into the eastern Mediterranean minutes after taking off from Rafik Hariri International Airport amid violent thunderstorms at about 2:30 am local time.

The cause of the crash remained a mystery, but Aridi suggested Tuesday that pilot error may have been a factor, with the plane following the recommended air traffic control route before abruptly altering course. The minister also categorically ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack.

“They [air traffic controllers] asked [the pilot] to correct his path but he did a very fast and strange turn before disappearing completely from the radar,” Aridi told reporters.

Unconfirmed eyewitness accounts close to the crash site in Naameh spoke of the plane being engulfed in flames following a lightning strike as it battled howling wind and rain.

“Nobody is saying the pilot is to blame for not heeding orders,” Aridi added. “There could have been many reasons for what happened. Only the black box can tell.”

Ethiopian Airlines CEO immediately refuted Aridi’s suggestion that the pilot had altered the Boeing 737’s course prior to crashing.

“Rushing remarks, I don’t think that helps anybody,” Wake said in Addis Ababa.

He added that the pilot had 20 years experience flying commercial aircraft but refused to divulge his name.

Officials from both countries said immediately after the crash that terrorism was unlikely to be the cause.

“The probability of sabotage in these circumstances is much less than all other probabilities,” a security official, who did not wish to be identified, told reporters at Beirut airport.

No survivors had been found by Tuesday evening and hopes were fading fast that anyone on board could still be alive. Security officials in Beirut said that any chance of finding survivors was “slim.”

Relatives and friends of passengers finished donating blood for a DNA database which will be used to identify victims, according to head of Parliament’s public health committee.

MP Atef Majdalani, head of Parliament’s Health committee visited the Rafik Hariri University Hospital to meet with doctors. He said that it would take 72 hours to complete DNA lists.

One victim, who was identified immediately because his passport was still in his pocket, was buried Tuesday in the southern village of Hannawiye.

Hassan Tajeddine was reported to have been an influential businessman with links to Hizbullah.

As well as the 54 Lebanese nationals onboard flight ET409, 22 Ethiopian migrant workers are also feared dead.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri visited the Ethiopian Consulate to meet with Consul head Asaminew Debelie Bonssa. The premier paid his respects to the families of victims back in Africa.

State media in Luanda reported that at least 20 of the Lebanese victims worked in Angola, including Tajeddine, who was on the flight with four other employees of a food import company.

A large number of Lebanese nationals work in oil and diamond-rich Angola, mostly running food import businesses but with some involvement in the diamond industry.

Conflicting reports of bodies retrieved from the sea continued to emerge on Tuesday, with the body count ranging from 14 to more than 30. Several Lebanese officials retracted the figures they released on Monday evening. “We hope they will find trapped bodies in the fuselage,” Wake said.

The Lebanese Army issued a statement saying that search and rescue operations had recommenced at first light on Tuesday.

“Since dawn today a US Navy ship, equipped with sophisticated equipment [was] exploring the area where the main body of plane is believed to have landed,” the statement said.

“These forces were able to recover 14 bodies in addition to the remains of one body. They were able to gather part of the plane’s left wing.”

A well-informed security source told The Daily Star that two of the dead hauled ashore were recognizable as air stewardesses from their clothing. One man could be a security official, the source said, because a gun holster was still attached to his body.

The Lebanese Army, Internal Security and Civil Defense forces were assisted by international search vessels and helicopters as calmer weather returned to the Lebanese coast.

As well as the US warship, Britain, Cyprus and UNIFIL’s Maritime Task Force (MTF) sent boats and helicopters to survey the search parameter of 35 kilometers around the crash site.

The US Embassy issued a statement confirming that a delegation of crash investigation experts from the National Transportation Safety Board was en route to Beirut to aid maneuvers.

The French Embassy announced that a team of specialists was being sent from Paris to assist investigation efforts.

A senior Lebanese security official said authorities were relying on the USS Ramage, which has specialized sonar equipment, to locate the flight recorders and pieces of the plane. “We also have divers and we are using specialized equipment that can go down as deep as 200 to 300 meters,” he added, speaking anonymously.

Defense Minister Elias Murr visited a Lebanese Air Force base at the port of Beirut and was briefed on the progress of retrieval operations. He lamented the lack of aeronautical resources Lebanon had at its disposal, which prevented adequate response to events of the crash’s scale.

“Our aviation system is very weak,” he said and vowed to rejuvenate Lebanese Air Force capabilities to help future disasters.

Unconfirmed and unofficial reports on Tuesday evening suggested that the airliner’s black box had been located at a depth of 500 meters and was due to be retrieved Wednesday.

The data it contains could provide vital clues into what happened to the Boeing 737 moments before it disappeared from radar screens four minutes after takeoff. – With AFP

Source: THE DAILY STAR

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