Ethiopian Airlines says sabotage
not ruled out
10 February, 2010 | By Barry Malone
A source familiar with the investigation into the accident told
Reuters on Tuesday the team concluded pilot error was to
blame after examining the airliner's flight recorders.
"Ethiopian Airlines does not rule out all possible causes
including the possibility of sabotage until the final outcome of
the investigation is known," the company said in a
statement, adding that media reports of pilot error were
"speculative".
The Boeing 737-800 crashed minutes after taking off from
Beirut en route to Addis Ababa in stormy weather on
January 25.
The Lebanese Army said the plane had broken up in the air
before plummeting into the sea. Witnesses described it as
crashing in a ball of flame.
The airline said only the data recorder had been found.
"The cockpit voice recorder and the aircraft wreckage are
not yet retrieved for analysis. It is therefore too early to
conclude the cause of the accident," the company said.
A team of Lebanese, French and Ethiopian officials went to
France on Monday to analyse the data recorder, or "black
box".
Lebanese officials say the pilot failed to respond to the
control tower's instruction to change direction, even though
he acknowledged the request.
The plane made an unexpected sharp turn before
disappearing off the radar, the Lebanese transport minister
said at the time.
The eight-year-old plane, carrying mostly Lebanese and
Ethiopian passengers, last had a maintenance check on
December 25 and no technical problems had been found.
Since retrieving the data recorder from the sea on Sunday,
Lebanese and international search teams have located
parts of the fuselage, where most of the bodies were
believed trapped.
At least 23 bodies have been recovered so far.
Courtesy
not ruled out
10 February, 2010 | By Barry Malone
- ADDIS ABABA
(Reuters) -
Ethiopian Airlines
said on
Wednesday it still
believed sabotage
may have caused
the crash of one of
its aircraft off
Lebanon last month
which killed all 90
people on board.
A source familiar with the investigation into the accident told
Reuters on Tuesday the team concluded pilot error was to
blame after examining the airliner's flight recorders.
"Ethiopian Airlines does not rule out all possible causes
including the possibility of sabotage until the final outcome of
the investigation is known," the company said in a
statement, adding that media reports of pilot error were
"speculative".
The Boeing 737-800 crashed minutes after taking off from
Beirut en route to Addis Ababa in stormy weather on
January 25.
The Lebanese Army said the plane had broken up in the air
before plummeting into the sea. Witnesses described it as
crashing in a ball of flame.
The airline said only the data recorder had been found.
"The cockpit voice recorder and the aircraft wreckage are
not yet retrieved for analysis. It is therefore too early to
conclude the cause of the accident," the company said.
A team of Lebanese, French and Ethiopian officials went to
France on Monday to analyse the data recorder, or "black
box".
Lebanese officials say the pilot failed to respond to the
control tower's instruction to change direction, even though
he acknowledged the request.
The plane made an unexpected sharp turn before
disappearing off the radar, the Lebanese transport minister
said at the time.
The eight-year-old plane, carrying mostly Lebanese and
Ethiopian passengers, last had a maintenance check on
December 25 and no technical problems had been found.
Since retrieving the data recorder from the sea on Sunday,
Lebanese and international search teams have located
parts of the fuselage, where most of the bodies were
believed trapped.
At least 23 bodies have been recovered so far.
Courtesy
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