Ethiopian Airlines sources have revealed that the captain who was originally assigned to fly Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 was not on board when the plane crashed into the Mediterranean Sea.
According to Ethiopian Review sources, Captain Amaha Fisseha went to Mekelle to attend a wedding, and in his place another pilot, Captain Habtamu Benti, with Co-pilot Alula Tamrat, flew the ill-fated plane.
[Correction: It was reported yesterday that Captain Amaha called in sick.]
AP and other news agencies are reporting that the pilot made a ‘strange turn’ after take off and ignored instructions from flight controllers on the ground, Lebanon’s transportation minister said Tuesday.
The tower “asked him to correct his path but he did a very fast and strange turn before disappearing completely from the radar,” Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi told The Associated Press.
The Boeing 737-800 had taken off from Beirut airport Monday during thunderstorms and lightning. It went down 3½ kilometres off the Lebanese coast at roughly 2:30 a.m. local time, only minutes after takeoff en route to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
All 90 people, including a Canadian passenger, are feared dead. Search-and-rescue teams have so far recovered more than 20 bodies and are looking for the plane’s black box and flight data recorder.
“Nobody is saying the pilot is to blame for not heeding orders,” Aridi said, adding: “There could have been many reasons for what happened.…Only the black box can tell.”
It is not clear why the pilot did not correct his flight path or whether he could. The Boeing 737 is also equipped with its own onboard weather radar, which the pilot may have used to avoid flying into storms.
The Lebanese army also said the plane was on fire shortly after takeoff. A defence official said some witnesses reported the plane broke up into three pieces. Officials have ruled out terrorism as a cause of the crash, without elaborating.
Beirut air traffic control was guiding the Ethiopian flight through the thunderstorms for the first two to three minutes of its flight, an aviation analyst familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press.
The official said this was standard procedure by Lebanese controllers to assist airliners leaving the airport in bad weather.
Ethiopian Airlines said the pilot had more than 20 years of experience.
34 thoughts on “Correction: Captain originally assigned to fly ET-409 escapes crash”
Fate! may be the other pilot wasn’t experienced. may they all rest in Peace!
If it is true as some are saying that the plane broke of into three pieces in mid air, I would not hesitate to claim this plane was shot down by a missile rather than a bomb inside or technical problem. Hezbola an Iranian backed organization is expert on this and for what the Woyane goverment has been doing this may be a pay off by supporters of Somalia insurgents in the middle east, probably with the recommendations of Iranian intelligence agency.
Why is Ethiopian Airlines profitable? Can you compare the pilots and staff salary against European and North American airliners? I believe that ET is profitable because it pays peanuts to its work force.
About 15 to 20 years ago, an ET pilot only made $1,000 USD a month or so. But recently, when experienced pilots started to leave for better jobs in Arab countries, ET raised the pilots’ salaries. But, it remains too low when compared to other airliners.
In addition, ET doesn’t provide as comprehensive fringe benefits as others. I am not sure if the pilots and the crew are even covered for life loss after this accident.
Please do investigate on these points.
Its shocking, sad and heart breaking. Our hearts go out to the families of all the victims.
Let God rest thier soul in peace.
All the Ethiopian Airline captains are all very well-trained. I am sure the captain that flew ET409 was as experienced as the original planned one. I agree that ET pays their pilots peanuts compared to North American Airline. R.I.P.
Annonymus 3:-
Please do not open your big mouth as you do know nothing about EAL. We Ethiopians are proud of our Airline and its employees and this is not a time to throw dirts if any!!!!
Since I know the late Captain as a good friend, it pains me very much as he is no longer with us to defend himself. The late Captain was an extraordinary person, a pilot first, with a degree in physics and chemistry, well read, principled, an all rounded person to say the least!
Comment 7. helps erase the notion that the pilot could make stupid mistake. If so, now remain two phenomenon. The explosion was caused by technical error or Missile.
What happened to this flight should be investigated throughly.Independent body has to conduct the investigation.Woyane or EAL CEO. Girma Wake can not be trusted.
ለምን እንችኩላለን :: የበረራ መረጃ ሳትኑ ሲገኝ እውነቱ ይታወቃል :: ፍንዳታስ ቢሆን ለምን እጃችንን ወደ እስልምና ተከታዮች እናነሳለን:: በርካታው ተሳፋሪ ሙስሊም መሆኑን ማን ያተዋል :: በአብዛናው ደግሞ በወታት እድመ ነው :: ስለዚህ የአውሮፕላኑ መውደቅ ተኩስ ከሆነ ትካቱ ከልላም ሊመታ ይችላል
as a close family member of the departed captain, I am extremely disappointed that Ethiopian review saw fit to publish the names of the pilots when Ethiopian Airlines has not yet officially revealed the names of the crew.
Especially when lebanese officials are quick to jump to conclusions suggesting pilot error, it would have been prudent to refrain from name disclosure.
basic common sense should have prevailed !!
People what ever happened the thing that concerns us is that we lost our brothers and sister on this tragedy…..The truth will alway come out…its a matter of time…lets pray for survivors and that they find a clear evidence of what happened….My question will be,Who is investigating and will the truth be revealed to the public if this got to do with any of the countries government?Lets not forget that there was an ambassadors wife in there which may link to politics.This thing happened in the middel east and an air traffic gave a word saying it might be the piolets fault….I hope there is a brife explanation about that.I hope our Ethiopian government will dig information to reveal the truth…..””Mestnanate lebeteseboch emeghalehu”
tezibt:
Amazing how your clever mind uncovered and solved the mystry of the crash…
I can’t beleive that someone can be so ridiculous to simply accuse others with no clew…
Just for your info, hezbola is a lebanese resistant whose all its members are lebanese and mostly from the south of lebanon, and most of the lebanese who died in the plane crash are from the south…so no one can beleive that they will just hit the plane by a missile and kill their firends and families just for sake of iran…you can’t find any party in the whole world that is more faithfull to its land and people than hezbola….
so keep your ugly mouth shut, and mind your mind from your sutpid analysis…
you know…you should work in Hollywood because you have huge imagination..but filled with hate
the copilot you said his name was alula. i hope he is not the same alula that i went to school with at meserte hiwot in addis ababa. i hope not
You wrote “According to Ethiopian Review sources, Captain Amaha called in sick and stayed behind in Beirut. Another pilot, Captain Habtamu Benti, with Co-pilot Alula Tamrat, flew the ill-fated plane.”
The late Capitain Habtamu was doing a favor to “Capitain Amha” who begged him to substitute for him while “Amha” is attending to a wedding in Addis Ababa,
Capitain Habtamu was a friend of mine, a person of extraordinary talents, in addition to being an accomplished pilot was a chemist by training( a rarity among his collegues), reads atleast one book a week, can talk about science, arts, music and world events like no other that I know in his chosen career.
Beirut is not a hub for Ethiopian Airlines where pilots/crew exchange.
Please check your facts before you write anything. I always gave you the benefit of the doubt when others criticized you.
Sabotage Not Ruled Out Altogether in Ethiopian Plane Crash
10 hours ago
Hypotheses and speculations mounted about a “sabotage” action in the Ethiopian plane crash which plunged into the Mediterranean sea in stormy weather earlier this week with 90 passengers and crew on board feared dead.
The Ethiopian plane crash which plunged into the Mediterranean sea in stormy weather earlier this week with 90 passengers and crew on board is likely a “deliberate” attack, some media reports said Wednesday.
While the daily al-Liwaa said the crash is likely a “deliberate” attack, pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat did not rule out “sabotage” after the disaster presumably killed all 90 passengers and crew.
OTV, meanwhile, which is close to Hizbullah and is reputed to have strong ties with Hizbullah circles, cited official circles as saying that the Ethiopian plane was likely hit by a rocket.
Al-Liwaa based its hypothesis on Hizbullah’s heightened concern about the catastrophe and the fact that a Hizbullah delegation, including Hashem Safieddine and MP Nawar al-Sahili, was supposed to be on the plane.
It said the trip was cancelled at the last minute upon instructions by Speaker Nabih Berri to allow Sahili to attend a parliamentary session scheduled for Monday. Berri, however, called off the meeting after the plane crash disaster.
Al-Liwaa also pointed to Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s keenness to “personally” attend the funeral of one of the plane victims identified as Hasan Tajeddine in the southern town of Hanaway.
It said Tajeddine has close ties with Hizbullah. Navigation sources, meanwhile, told Asharq al-Awsat that “all possibilities are open.”
They said an “explosion” likely took place on the plane, pointing out that lightning by itself cannot bring down an aircraft. The sources also raised the possibility that the lightning hit the plane in a “sensitive area” that, together with human and technical errors, led to the crash.
Source: http://www.beirut-online.net/portal/article.php?id=6506
The guy who said “Beirut is not a hub for Ethiopian Airlines where pilots/crew exchange. ”
ADD-Beirut round trip is 9hrs and a half and since the flight limit is 8 hrs there has to be a crew rest/crew change in Beirut.
Lebanese says:
tezibt:
Amazing how your clever mind uncovered and solved the mystry of the crash…
I can’t beleive that someone can be so ridiculous to simply accuse others with no clew…
Dear Lebanese or supporter of Lebanese, I have the right to speculate any thing based on experience of the region and my country. I never waste my time hating, and I never said I hate… you can imagine or misinterpret as you like but when the black box is found investigation is complete we will all rest. If you are talking about hate I can tell you stories till you drop dead but I never hate lebanese as I happened to know some Lebanese either in former schools or through different medium. I actually find Lebanese more advanced and open minded than most middle easterners. So you are wrong I don’t hate Lebanese, stay on the topic of discussing the issue itself. The issue is not about my hatred but about the Eth. airliner that crashed with 90 innocent civilians. I still don’t buy you your explanation on how Hezbola loves its people and wouldn’t do stuff like that. I follow the middle east very well. Thousands are killed by their one of their own on a daily basis. Do you think I am from Mars. For your info I live down here on earth and I ain’t an alien either. As to your suggestion, Holywood doesn’t need my imagination, all film directors have to do is copy and paste real life stories from the middle east and turn them into motion pictures. If you don’t mind I would like to tell you that you are either a hypocrite Lebanese or you are a non Lebanese protecting your likes… I am trying to refrain from further speculation which may infuriate others. I just want you to understand that my comment is based only on my hateless info.
take care
13. Lebanese says:
Dear Lebanese or supporter of Lebanese, please read below. It was from a lebanese news paper not from.
While the daily al-Liwaa said the crash is likely a “deliberate” attack, pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat did not rule out “sabotage” after the disaster presumably killed all 90 passengers and crew.
OTV, meanwhile, which is close to Hizbullah and is reputed to have strong ties with Hizbullah circles, cited official circles as saying that the Ethiopian plane was likely hit by a rocket.
Al-Liwaa based its hypothesis on Hizbullah’s heightened concern about the catastrophe and the fact that a Hizbullah delegation, including Hashem Safieddine and MP Nawar al-Sahili, was supposed to be on the plane.
It said the trip was cancelled at the last minute upon instructions by Speaker Nabih Berri to allow Sahili to attend a parliamentary session scheduled for Monday. Berri, however, called off the meeting after the plane crash disaster.
Sad and heart breaking it is, may God rest the souls of all that perished on flight ET 409 and prey for the the families and loved onces. I could have lived with the first lie ‘hit by a thunder’ than the second ‘flew in the wrong way’ “We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart.” Blaise Pascal
God bless
For number 11, look the main important is to let every one knows who was onboard flight 409.To ease the emotional pain for the concerned.For Tplf gangs the death of Ethiopians means nothing.Were is the list of names of our Patroits from the Ethiopian and Erterian conflict.Er did a great job.I have read few of you open your mouth wide enough to shelter a plane,er still print your unfiltered Garbage thought.Great Job MR Elias!!!
I know captain Habtamu since child hood.He is a graduate from A.A university in chemistry and later joined flight school of Ethiopian Air lines.He had 20yrs of experience as a pilot according to the liner.He is wise,knowlegeble,hamble,friendly person with bright future.
The exchange he had with collegue is a sign of being nice and helpful.
I am sure,he is not stupid to do this mistake.Time will come for every thing.
My condolences to the victims family
May the soul rest in peace. For sure we will know what happened to the ET409 before the tragic accident.
How does making a stange turn on its own culminates with the firy down fall of a perfectly sound air plane?
my they rest n peace.my heart goes out for the victims familey
While I pass my condolences to our Ethiopia’s victims families, I fully agreed with Tazabit #18. She did not mention that she hate Lebanese. She just speculate on things that she feels is right. As to Ethiopian pilots, the whole world knows that ETH pilots are one of the best and the brightest, and blaming the pilot at this early stage is totally unacceptable.
That was bearth taking moment when the crash news pop up on my cell phone. But what the hell is wrong with lebanen govt . Why the hell they ruled out sabotage or terrerism dispit of the fact that the plan exploded in air. Eye wittenss said they saw a ball of fire and explosion sound there after.the speed of light is faster than the speed of sound that is why they saw fire first explosion then. I heard some areb media reporting why the captain took off with bad wheather.I would like to tell ya capitains do fly the plan when only given clearance to fly by the controlling tower or flight control.let me say this when the national wheather declears sever wheather why in the first place labenen flight control cleared the flight to fly moreover the flight crew had been given wheather release from the gate in lebenen airport which tell them to fly.why they said pilot took off in the wrong direction he took of in the direction of the run way cleared to take off and the crush happened after 3-5 minuts of take off.I have no idea if this plan was striken by misle or rockets .let God help the family and the soul of the dead.
I am surprised that the Woyane gangs and their spokesman, Bereket Simon has not blame “Shaebia” for the ill fated flight..hammmm
Very sad egziabeair nebsachewoon yemar(RIP).
Sarah says:
I am surprised that the Woyane gangs and their spokesman, Bereket Simon has not blame “Shaebia” for the ill fated flight. hmmmm
You are right Sarah! I was also wondering why Bereket Simon didn’t open his dirty mouth to blame the Amharas, the Oromos, the Ogadenies, the Eritreans and so on for the crash. May be he is still recovering from his weekend hangover. I heard that fag finishes a bottle of Vodka by himself.
May God Rest In Peace the victims of the accident.
My condolences to the family of Capt. Habtamu, who was a dear friend from our days at AAU’s Science Faculty (Arat kilo) and thereafter. He was such a humble and lively person with an enviable personality.
Rest In Peace my dear friend and your memories will remain in my heart forever.
Had all the TPLF officals been in that plane,Ethiopians would have been freed.
I would like to forward my condolences to the victims family of all countries.
For the Woyane Officials, Death of the people means nothing.They give more media coverage for thier none-sense,false , pre-text and meaningless election.The TPLF rush to blame terrorists. I don’t mean that lebanese can be free from terrorism.But the TPLF should accept the truth.
The lebanes ofccials should swallow thier rough and raw comment towards the pilot. Regardless of the TPLF merceless governance, Ethiopian pilots are really outstanding.
Tokichaw of Finefine
hope God be with you. I am very very sad.
Rest in peace.
rest in peace. feeling very very sad.