CYPRUS yesterday joined a massive international task force comprising planes, helicopters and ships scouring the Lebanese coast for survivors after an Ethiopian jet plunged flaming into the sea.
Lebanon, the United Nations, the United States, Britain, France and Cyprus hastily scrambled search and rescue teams after Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, carrying at least 90 passengers and crew crashed shortly after takeoff from Beirut International Airport at around 2:30 am.
Eyewitnesses said they saw a ball of fire in the sky before the Addis Ababa-bound jet fell into the sea after taking off in stormy weather.
The airline’s chief executive denied initial reports of survivors.
Following a request for assistance from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the Cypriot airborne police unit prepped its first search-and-rescue team, which took off from Larnaca airport at 6.15am en route for the crash area, around 3.5km off the Lebanese coast.
The unit’s two helicopters alternated between sorties, one in the air and the other on standby at Larnaca airport.
Three sorties were carried out, the last leaving around 2pm. A spokesman for the unit said the choppers had spotted 13 bodies and debris, and had radioed in the co-ordinates to higher authorities.
Meanwhile a search and rescue chopper of the Sovereign Bases Area (SBA), 84th squadron, was dispatched to the coast off Beirut.
SBA spokesman Stuart Bardsley said the chopper, with a three-man crew, had recovered two bodies on its initial outing. The helicopter would continue surveying the area until dusk and then touch down at Beirut where the crew would spend the night, he said.
A German supply ship forming part of UNIFIL was in command of the salvage operation. Yesterday the ship was in the area co-ordinating the search with Lebanese vessels, the German minesweeper ‘Laboe’ and several helicopters.
Pieces of the plane and debris were washing ashore in the hours after the crash, including passenger seats, a baby’s sandal, a fire extinguisher and bottles of medicine.
Speaking from Larnaca airport, Transport Minister Nicos Nicolaides said the Search and Rescue Co-ordination Centre was informed of the incident around 3.40am. The centre received a request for assistance from UNIFIL shortly later, and by daybreak the first search-and-rescue team was ready for takeoff.
“First and foremost, we must express our grief at this tragic event and our sympathy for the families of the victims. We are in this together with Lebanon…” he said
A great deal of confusion surrounded the exact number of people aboard as well as the number of bodies recovered subsequently.
According to the latest count, rescue crews had recovered 14 bodies by 6pm yesterday.
The figure was confirmed by Darwish Hobeika, head of Lebanon’s Civil Defence.
“The search is continuing tonight, in difficult conditions,” Hobeika told the Mail.
But earlier in the day, the Defence Ministry here announced that at least 34 bodies had been recovered. The ministry was briefed by the Search and Rescue Co-ordination Centre, which in turn was in contact with UNIFIL.
The ministry said also that the plane was carrying 85 passengers and seven crew. Earlier, Lebanese officials said that aboard the jet there were 90 people, including 83 passengers and seven crew. Ethiopian Airlines reported that there were 82 passengers and eight crew; the discrepancy could not immediately be explained.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said terrorism was not suspected in the crash of Flight 409.
“Sabotage is ruled out as of now,” he said.
Costas Orfanos, head of Cyprus’ Accident and Incident Investigation Board, said the jet had climbed to an altitude of around 9,000 feet when it dropped off radars at Larnaca airport.
“The plane was in the air for about four minutes. Our radars can pick up aircraft out of Lebanon as soon as they reach 2,000 feet. We’ve also seen weather reports showing a thunderstorm in the area. But whether the weather conditions are to blame…it’s too early to tell,” Orfanos told the Mail.
Boeing 737-800s are built to withstand lightning strikes, and in any case the plane’s weather radar detection system should have warned the pilot whether it was safe or not to take off, he said.
