A Boeing 737 twin-engined airliner operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed just moments after taking off from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport on January 25th 2010. Those present at the scene reported observing flames around the 737, prior to it dropping out the sky and plummeting into the Mediterranean Sea. Weather conditions at the time are said to have been stormy.

To date, some nine fatalities are known to have been suffered out of the 80 or so people on board. The majority of passengers were understood to have been of Ethiopian or Lebanese origin. As these words were being typed, a rescue operation – involving helicopters and ships operated by the United Nations – was taking place.

Playing down notions of any kind of terrorist action as the root cause of this crash, Michel Suleiman – the President of Lebanon, stated: “As of now, a sabotage act is unlikely...the investigation will uncover the cause”. He added: “The weather conditions are terrible, but rescue efforts are still under way.”

“The Lebanese Government has formed a rescue team lead by the Ministry of Transport”, Ato Girma Wake – Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines – told journalists, according to a press released published on the carrier’s website. “Also taking part in this rescue mission are the Lebanese Defense force including the Navy and the UN peace keeping force in the region.”

Ethiopian Airlines Crash

Ethiopian Airlines was established in 1945, and carries more passengers per year than any other African airline. The majority of its fleet is comprised of twin-engined Boeing aircraft like the 737 and the 757. The January 25th incident was the third Ethiopian Airlines crash to have occurred over the past four decades where fatalities have ensued: the previous ones happened in 1988 and 1996.

The Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 involved in this crash was Flight ET409 - on a regular, scheduled service to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Boeing 737 Crash

The Boeing 737 is a staple of modern air travel services, with production and order figures that surpass any other jet-powered commercial aircraft. The 737-800, as lost today, is one of the most up-to-date 737s, and is the basis of the United States Navy’s future maritime patrol platform, the Boeing P-8 Poseidon. Over the course of the type’s 40+ year career to date, the Boeing 737 crash volume now stands at approximately 300 incidents.

Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport is Beirut’s sole functioning commercial passenger airport. Operations there began in the mid-1950s. The impact of the 1975-1990 civil war in Lebanon impacted heavily on it but, in 1994, it was revitalised with the creation of new terminal facilities, runways and other associated airliner infrastructure. Until 2005, the site was known just as Beirut International Airport, but the assassination of Prime Minister Rafic Baha El Deen Al-Hariri saw its name expanded in honour of his memory.