34 Bodies Found From Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409

34 Bodies Found From Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 as British, French and Cypriot aircraft joined rescue crews searching the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Lebanon on Monday, January 25th, 2009.

The Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed with 90 people aboard and at midday Monday, rescue crews had found 34 bodies, but no survivors have yet to be found.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 left Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut about 2:30 a.m. and was headed to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, but the flight disappeared from radar a few minutes into the flight.

Flight 409 crashed about 3.5 km (2.1 miles) west of the town of Na’ameh. Na’ameh is 15 km (9 miles) south of Beirut.

Authorities do not immediately know the cause of the crash, but it has been reported that there was severe weather in the area when flight 409 took off. Authorities do not believe that there was any indication for sabotage or foul play.

34 Bodies Found From Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 but, rescue crews are still searching the beach after Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 crashed.

The Boeing 737-800 had eight crew members and 82 passengers. They were 51 Lebanese nationals, 23 Ethiopians, two Britons and citizens from Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Canada, Russia and France, the airline stated. Earlier accounts of those on Flight 409, provided by the Lebanese government varied slightly.

However, among the Flight 409 passengers, it has been reported that the wife of Denis Pietton, the French ambassador to Lebanon.

Ethiopian Airlines is one of the largest in Africa and is government owned and unlike several African carriers that are not allowed in European air space, because of shoddy safety records, Ethiopian Airlines serves Europe. It flies to three other continents as well, for a total of 56 destinations.

According to the New York Times in a 2006 report, Ethiopian Airlines has such a commendable safety record that some expanding airlines in Asia have lured away its pilots at higher pay scales,
The airline has experienced two fatal crashes since 1980.

All 90 people are feared dead due to the situation of the crash. The plane crashed 5 minutes into the flight an because of the weather search teams and rescue seems highly unlikely.

BBAC sends their condolences to those families and friends of those who appear to be lost at sea, in the crash of flight 409.

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