BEIRUT (Reuters) – A U.S. navy vessel located on Wednesday the flight recorders from an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed off the coast of Lebanon two days ago with 90 people aboard, a security official said.
“The U.S. ship located the black boxes 1,300 metres underwater and 8 km west of Beirut airport,” the security official told Reuters, 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.
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.
“Theoretically the black boxes should be inside the plane’s fuselage, but this is all speculation at the moment,” he said,
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.
Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi said the plane made a sharp turn before disappearing off the radar. He said it was too early to draw any conclusion of pilot error.
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.
Over the last few days, most of us have been in sombre sadness disheartened by the disaster of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight FT-409 destined Beirut to Addis Ababa – leading to the death of 90 people onboard as it has now (at the time of this writing) been confirmed. Firstly, my condolences go to the families of the victims irrespective of where/who they belong to.
In this disaster, we also have been witnessing the unfair treatment given by some of the Beirut media and some circles directly or indirectly linked to the case. Though we may not have love for our own rulers in Addis Ababa, one of the Ethiopian iconic and unifying emblems in the tri-colour is the Ethiopian Airlines. I have been saddened to witness, at early stages of the Beirut tragedy, the unfair blames that the Tri-colour and its flight crew have been receiving, as have been mischaracterised by the Lebanese journalists, Ministry of Transport, Defence Officials etc. These comments of mine don’t implicate the Prime Minister of Beirut and other Officials who fairly have been reflecting on this tragedy.
In the first day, one of the Lebanese journalists made a crude and wrong statement saying that “the Ethiopian Airlines is not one of the best in the world.” The same journalist, by the name “Mariam Soleh,” also stated that “the pilot could have flown his plane better”, that “he must have made a mistake somewhere.” She continued saying that the pilot “did give extra fuel” to the plane. The question one asks is that did she say anything critical about the flight controllers at the airport? With no doubt in her mind she was in fact praising them that they were supporting/aiding the pilot! The Lebanese air traffic controllers have also characterized the cause of the disaster as that the pilot hasn’t maneuvered the plane as instructed by them. This view has been repeatedly played by some circles of the Lebanese victims’ family.
To this end, the Lebanese Defense Ministry and the Transportation Ministry have stated that pilot failed to follow recommendations to change the course of the flight.” This was adding the fuel to the earlier speculation of the officials with the intention of concealing the authorities’ mishandling of the flight by instructing the pilot to take off under adverse weather condition in the first place. The fact that other planes were taking off/landing can’t justify the wrong decision made by the flight controllers or anybody associated. What some circles of the Beirut media and some of the officials are doing is pointing fingers at others — the crew of the Ethiopian in this case.
I posted comments in protest of the officials’ unethical and unprofessional statements on Monday. The journalist mentioned above seemed to me that she has no proper training in journalism. The other media outlets were echoing the same guilty verdict around the world.
The Beirut air traffic controllers are in a similar way attempting to delegate responsibility by blaming the Ethiopian pilot with 20 years experience of flying a commercial jet when they have advised him to take off in such adverse weather condition.
It would be premature to draw conclusions regarding the cause of this tragedy before a complete investigation of this disaster is conducted. This has to involve the US experts knowledgeable in such cases, Boeing engineers, the Ethiopian Airlines, the Lebanese and other relevant bodies that can help with the investigation.
In the mean time, the Ethiopian Airlines management, engaging knowledgeable experts in the field, should aggressively defend the Airlines’ good name and reputation.
(The author, Mengistu Adugna, Ph.D., is a University lecturer in Computer Networks and Distributed Applied Programming. He can be reached at: [email protected])
Amnesty International (AI) has called on Ethiopian authorities not to execute Melaku Tefera, a member of the Union for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ), the only one of five men sentenced to death on 22 December 2009 who remains in Ethiopia. The other four sentenced to death in absentia are exiled Ginbot 7 party leaders Berhanu Nega, Andargachew Tsige, Muluneh Eyouel and Mesfin Aman. On the same day 33 others, including one woman, received life sentences.
The five men sentenced to death were convicted with 35 others in August and November 2009 on five charges related to an aborted coup attempt in April. Of these, thirty-three were sentenced to life imprisonment. Government officials have also confiscated some of their property.
The accused were arrested in April and May 2009 for involvement in a plan to attack power and telecommunications facilities and carry out assassinations of government officials in an attempt to provoke political unrest. Charges against them include plotting to kill government ministers, destroy strategic facilities and incite rebellion within the army, which can carry the death penalty in Ethiopia.
The federal prosecutor had asked the court to impose the death penalty against all of the accused, except two who pleaded guilty, stating that those convicted committed ‘serious acts of terrorism.’ But on 22 December 33 received life sentences while five were sentenced to death.
Those sentenced to life include opposition party members and family members of opposition party leaders such as Getu Worku, the cousin of Berhanu Nega, in exile in the United States.
They also include Tsige Habtemariam, the 80-year-old father of Andargachew Tsige, in exile in the UK. Tsige Habtemariam is a diabetic who recently underwent heart surgery and requires regular medical care.
Melaku Tefera, the only defendant sentenced to death on these charges who remains in Ethiopia, is a former Coalition for Unity and Democracy prisoner who served 20 months in Kaliti prison, then joined the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party.
Several of the defendants in this case have complained that they were tortured in detention. Amnesty International has called on Ethiopian authorities to grant these prisoners access to physicians of their choosing to assess their claims and treat any diagnosed injuries, in accordance with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature of the crime as cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
(For more information please call Amnesty International’s press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: [email protected]. International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK.; www.amnesty.org)
It’s been more than a week since anyone has heard from three students kidnapped from the Awassa University campus in southern Ethiopia by government security forces, according to the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA). Whereabouts of the students, Nagga Gezaw, Dhaba Girre, and Jatani Wario, is still unknown. The students were part of a local movement in southern Ethiopia which has called on their government to address river contamination, unpaid compensation and other problems caused by the Lega Dembi open pit gold mine. Several student-led demonstrations in early December brought promises to address the issues, promises now left empty by the extra-judicial kidnappings. (For more info on the demonstrations, see Addis Fortune and Voice of America.)
The gold mine belongs to MIDROC, a company owned by billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi, believed to be the largest foreign investor in Ethiopia. It is the only industrial gold mine in Ethiopia, though the government has signed dozens of mineral exploration licences and recently approved MIDROC’s Sakaro gold mine near Lega Dembi. Gold is Ethiopia’s major mineral, and the government is counting on a six-fold increase in production. MIDROC has reportedly earned $466 million from the Lega Dembi mine since 1998.
According to the HRLHA, the kidnapping is part of a recent wave of arrests and extra-judicial actions against students in southern Ethiopia. It comes on top of other human rights violations related to the government’s use of Ethiopia’s natural resources, and ahead of elections planned for later this year. Elections in 2005 were followed by a wave of arrests and kidnappings of activists. Last year saw two new laws enacted which immobilize local advocates. The new Charities Law criminalizes human rights work by most local organizations while the new Anti-Terrorism Law gives new, unrestrained powers to the government. In July, 42 NGOs were suspended by the government reportedly in response to their connection to a US report on human rights.
We have been following the massive dam-building in Ethiopia, which has also witnessed gvernment retaliation against local voices. The government plans to invest $12 billion in large hydro dams and sell the power to other countries. But Gibe 3 Dam, the largest so far, will devastate the downstream ecosystem which supports half a million people. Last April, community members who were believed to have spoken with the BBC about Gibe 3 were harassed. The government has generated a culture of fear that keeps nearly everyone from disagreeing with official positions on issues of huge consequence.
With communities silenced, the government’s agenda moves forward. A high-level Italian delegation is in Ethiopia this week for the official commissioning of the Gilgel Gibe 2 project, a massive hydropower scheme marred by delays and cost overruns. Italy provided €220 million for Gibe 2 despite internal recommendations againstfunding the project. The controversial decision triggered a criminal investigation in Italy.
Italian construction giant Salini built Gibe 2 and is now building the US$1.55 billion Gibe 3 Dam. Both lucrative contracts were given to Salini without competitive bidding. Ethiopia is hoping that Italy will back Gibe 3 with €250 million, an aid package essentially to pay Salini. Salini began construction of Gibe 3 in 2006 despite the government’s failure to complete project studies or community consultations.
Companies like MIDROC and Salini are clear winners in Ethiopia’s hurried push to develop big mines and big dams. Communities are forced to remain silent while they lose their resource base. When the brave few who do speak out disappear, it sends a loud message – and leaves Ethiopian society the poorer.
(BBC) — The “black box” flight recorders from a passenger jet which crashed off the coast of Lebanon two days ago have been found, officials say.
A search team located the recorders from the Ethiopian Airlines flight just over 1.3km (0.8 miles) underwater, 10km west of the capital, Beirut.
The search team is now trying to retrieve them, Lebanese security officials said.
All 90 people on board the flight are presumed dead following the crash.
At least 24 bodies have been pulled from the sea so far.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, bound for Addis Ababa, crashed into the Mediterranean minutes after take-off from Beirut at 0237 (0037 GMT) during a severe thunderstorm on Monday.
Witnesses said they saw the plane plummet into the sea in flames.
The international search operation has included Lebanese navy troops and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) as well as US navy destroyer USS Ramage and a civilian vessel from Cyprus with sonar equipment.
The cause of the crash is not yet known, however Lebanese officials have said the jet did not fly in the direction instructed by the Beirut control tower.
The officials said the pilot had been asked to correct his course, but turned in the opposite direction.
Seven crew and 83 passengers were on board the Boeing 737-800. Most were Lebanese or Ethiopian.
Marla Pietton, the wife of the French ambassador in Beirut, was among those on board.
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.
