Ethiopian 737 down off Beirut

[ugflyer]

Just got this on the bbc website. Anyone have any more info on this? I know a driver on this equipment with Ethiopian.

[Big Footer]

http://www.aljazeera.net/mritems/images/2010/1/25/1_967673_1_34.jpg

“Flight ET-409 carries 82 passenger plus eight Ethiopian crew members. Out of the total passengers 23 are Ethiopian, 51 Lebanese, one Turkish, one French, two British, one Russian, one Canadian, one Syrian and one Iraqi national.” A source at the French embassy in Beirut who requested anonymity said the ambassador’s wife was on board the plane.
“On the passengers’ list we saw the name of Marla Sanchez Pietton, the wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon,” a Lebanese security source said earlier.
An airport official said the Ethiopian Airlines plane was struck by lightning before it fell into the sea.
The Boeing aircraft disappeared off the radar screens shortly after takeoff, the state-run Lebanese National News Agency reported.

Witnesses in the area said they heard a loud noise and then saw a plane on fire plunging into the water.:confused:

Rescue teams were seen gathering near the area where the plane reportedly crashed.
“The weather is not helping us at all,” a member of the rescue team said. “But we hope to find some survivors.” Mr. Aridi said the crash site had been identified at 3.5 km west of the coastal village of Na’ameh.


Some Reports not official from beirut so far 7 survivors were located .

[VarigMD11]

Surely lightning wouldn't bring down an aircraft?! Bad news for Boeing, something like the 3rd or 4th hull loss of a 737-800 in the past 2 years. Not good.

[Rudeman]

This accident is very similar to the KQ flight that went down in Cameroon.
Same aircraft type. 737-800
Same weather. Heavy rain
Same distance from the airport almost.

[UN-Coordinated]

Wasn't the KQ crash down to CRM or lack of ? Overbearing Capt & subordinate F/O !

Most witnesses to an aircraft crash report it being on fire, even though on most occasions it is not !

[Captain Marverick]

It is rather unfortunate that in this age of technological advancement we still think that we can subdue nature.the forces that are at play in a thunderstorm or CB are far beyond any human or mechanical comprehension and as such as pilots we must know our limitations and that of the aircraft in relation to Mother nature.For most aviation accidents the key culprits are Human factors due to break down in CRM,loss of situational awareness and machoism.Bad Weather is the catalyst for most disasters and we must encourage and enforce operational risk management among aircrew.This has been practiced by the military pilots for a long time and calls for analyzing and assessing risk and if possible adopting risk mitigation processes to bring it from high risk to tolerable or minimal risk.One of the most effective methods in aviation is plain delay or wait period for improved weather.A 3 hour delay on weather can save all of us the tragedy and unbearable grief associated with an aircraft mishap. To all the families of the crew and passengers of the Ethiopian air mishap my sympathies.