- Title: LEBANON: Crashed jet's flight recorders located off Lebanon coast
- Date: 29th January 2010
- Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (JANUARY 28, 2010) ) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) BEIRUT COAST VARIOUS OF U.S. RESCUE SHIP IN HORIZON VARIOUS OF LEBANESE SOLDIERS WALKING ALONG COAST EXTERIOR OF HOSPITAL AMBULANCE MEDICS STANDING VARIOUS OF BODY OF PASSENGER BEING CARRIED OUT OF HOSPITAL IN COFFIN CROWDS OUTSIDE HOSPITAL
- Embargoed: 13th February 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Lebanon
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVAD0L4UH6C9IJ2RI60MGA00FKBS
- Story Text: A U.S. navy vessel has located the flight recorders from an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed off the coast of Lebanon with 90 people aboard.
A U.S. navy vessel located on Wednesday (January 27) the flight recorders from an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed off the coast of Lebanon on Monday with 90 people aboard, a security official said.
The official told Reuters that "the U.S. ship located the black boxes 1,300 metres underwater and 8 km west of Beirut airport," adding that search teams now had to assess the best way to retrieve the recorders.
Flight ET409, a Boeing 737-800, was carrying mostly Lebanese and Ethiopian passengers and was heading to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
The plane apparently broke up in the air before plunging in a ball of fire into the Mediterranean during a thunderstorm early on Monday (January 25).
The security official said it was still too early to say whether the USS Ramage, brought in to help with the search, had also located the plane's fuselage.
Lebanese and international teams, including European and U.N. peacekeeping ships, helicopters, planes and divers have been scouring a search area 10 km (6 miles) out to sea and 20 km long for the plane's fuselage and more of its victims.
The search has been hampered by rough seas and because of the uneven depth of the sea bed.
The flight recorders should shed light on why the pilot did not respond to a request to change direction even though he acknowledged the control tower's commands.
Only 14 bodies and some body parts have been recovered since and authorities have all but given up on finding survivors.
The eight-year-old plane last underwent a maintenance check on Dec. 25 and no technical problems were found.
The last fatal incident involving Ethiopian Airlines was in November 1996 when a hijacked Boeing 767 crashed off the Comoros Islands, killing 125 of the 175 passengers and crew. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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