ethiopian airlines aircraft down near Beirut
 

BBC reporting at 0211 UK time.

if so would have been ET409. 737-800 series according to site of Addis Ababa airport.

lebanese national news agency now confirming... (nna-leb.gov.lb)

Reuters says 85 pob , crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff.

A little dramatic as usual but a bit more info than the Beeb for now

Ethiopian Airlines Plane Crashes Into Mediterranean Sea After Taking Off From Beirut | Home | Sky News

If , as the 'reports' say that it crashed 30 / 45 minutes after departure ( take your pick ) , then it would not have been in Lebanese airspace , more likely Larnaca or Cairo FIR , but then nobody would have seen 'flames' at 0330 local . I think more likely a few minutes at most after departure .

BBC now reporting crash happened 'some five minutes after take off'. Wreckage apparently found on beach, 'major rescue operation taking place'.

METAR
 

2010/01/25 03:00 UTC

The observation is:
OLBA 250300Z 06004KT 030V090 5000 VCTS RA FEW020CB BKN026 10/06 Q1014 NOSIG

BEIRUT, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Rescue workers have located the crash site of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that went down just off the Lebanese coast on Monday, Lebanon's Transport Minister Ghazi al-Aridi said.
"(The crash) site has been identified three-and-a-half km (two miles) west of the (coastal) village of Na'ameh," Aridi told reporters at Beirut international airport.
He said search and rescue operations were underway 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 from Beirut international airport in stormy weather. Aridi said an investigation into the cause was underway.

Thundery weather in the area maybe a contributory factor.

Ethiopian Airlines has issued a first press release confirming the accident, and specifying the nationalities of the eight crew members and 82 pax on board:

Ethiopian | Press Releases

BBC reporting police not suspecting foul play,but weather.

Sorry gents, initial reports are often wrong.
 

Short of a million-to-one lightning strike causing a fire as reported, little else comes to my mind when a modern jet transport burns, then crashes rather than the other way round.

I may have been influenced by pictures of a certain someone in the news lately and the point of departure of that Ethiopian flight.

edit: initial reports, now amended, said that the aircraft was in flames as it went down. Now Sky News among others have changed their tunes.

I stand corrected until further information - accuracy improved - arrives.

BBC reporting Police suspect the weather. Right then, closed.

Well it's certainly an interesting press release from Ethiopian.

It starts with 3 sentences of facts on what's known thus far about the incident (which is reasonable enough).

But it is followed by 5 sentences about how many destinations Ethiopian Airlines serves, how dependable it is (irony is abviously not their strong point), plus how many awards it has won (all be they the self-serving type awards from the 'aviation awards industry', which is a whole industry unto itself! ).

Imho, this is hardly the time for them to be banging their corporate drum. :suspect:

Crash site as described by police is just 2 NM from departure end of runway. Reminds me of Kenya 737-800 Douala.

Ethiopian Airlines website quote...

"ET-409 Incident - 25 January, 2010 :ugh:

Ethiopian flight ET-409 scheduled to operate from Beirut to Addis Ababa on January 25th lost contact with the Lebanese air controllers shortly after take off. The flight departed at 02:35 Lebanese time from Beirut International Airport.
Flight ET-409 carries 82 passenger plus 8 Ethiopian Crew members. Out of the total passengers 23 are Ethiopian, 51 Lebanese, 1 Turkish, 1 French, 2 British, 1 Russian, 1 Canadian, 1 Syrian, 1 Iraqi nationals.
A team is already working on gathering all pertinent information. An investigative team has already been dispatched to the scene and we will release further information as further updates are received."


So as they say,this is only an incident,no need to worry...:suspect::suspect:

Without coming into any conclutions, reasons behind the crash can be various. However fot the numpties, anoraks, alarmist and conspiracy theorist's I've got the following: In many accidents, perhaps most, witnesses report the aircraft being on fire and hearing large explosion before the aircraft reached the surface.

To be fair, the political situation in Lebanon is sensitive to say the least. The PAX manifest, should it contain political players or unlikely PAX, could provide some clue to the possibility of foul play/ illegal interference with the flight. Ethiopian Airlines would be somewhat strange target for the groups targeting West, but Somali militants would certainly have a motive after Ethiopian military action in that country.

As is said, the weather conditions have been bad. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that a direct lightning strike is not needed to destroy an aircraft.

Regardless, I am sad to hear about the latest loss of life. I've used Ethiopian and I've found their pilots well trained and Ethiopian one of the better Airlines to fly to Africa with a good safety record even by European standards.

First thought same, threemiles.

As far as "numpties" speculating ... its good to see the better press agencies giving us pertinent background info like:

:ugh:

Migrating birds?

Not to mention a single word of regret or condolence...
UV

That's what we call boilerplate at the end of the press release. Most companies have these kinds of self-promoting sections they automatically stick on to the end of every press release. But in this case the juxtaposition with the statement above the boilerplate on the incident creates a rather tasteless document. At the very least, they need a better PR agency.