Maltempo Anche alle autorità etiopi non era arrivata alcuna minaccia di attentato. È probabile che, a causare il dramma, sia stato il violento temporale che in quel momento cadeva sulla capitale e che ha reso difficili anche la ricerca di eventuali sopravissuti. L’aereo, un Boeing 737, era decollato dall’aeroporto Rafic Hariri alle 02:37 ora locale (quando in Italia era l’01:37) e volava verso sud-est. "La torre di controllo stava aiutando il pilota subito dopo il decollo, quando improvvisamente ha perso il controllo per qualche ignota ragione", ha spiegato il ministro dei trasporti, Ghazi Aridi. Le condizioni del tempo "erano indubbiamente molto brutte", ha aggiunto.
ET Flight 409 Incident Update 3 - 25 January, 2010
10:23 AM - Local Time
Ethiopian’s Chief Executive Officer, Ato Girma Wake held a press conference this morning at the Ethiopian Headquarters and provided further details relative to ET-409’s accident in Beirut. In opening the conference, Ato Girma said that “We are very sorry to have you here this morning under this tragic circumstance involving this unfortunate accident. Let me first extend my deepest sympathy to the family members and friends of the victims”. He added that, “The Lebanese Government has formed a rescue team lead by the Ministry of Transport. Also taking part in this rescue mission are the Lebanese Defense force including the Navy and the UN peace keeping force in the region.”
Ato Girma also reported that a team of Aircraft Accident Handling and Crisis Management experts will be traveling to Beirut from London. The team consisting of 8 people from BLAKE Emergency services is proceeding from London to Beirut today to assist with the rescue mission and establish a family assistance center to help the families.
BLAKE Emergency Services can be contacted at +27 11 6352000
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