Pattaya Daily News

Beirut, the 1st of January 2010 [PDN]: The search and rescue operation for Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409., currently consisting of the US Navy, UN Interim Forces, Lebanese Army, French Authorities and several private vessels continues to scan the seabed for remnants of the downed airline. As of Tuesday, the main body of the plane remains undiscovered.

The flights ‘black boxes’ were discovered by the US Navy vessel USS Ramage on Wednesday the 27th of January, however; due to their location – approximately 10km off the coast of Manara, in 1.5km deep waters – manual retrieval is impossible. Lebanese army officials requested the assistance of the US vessel Odyssey Explorer which has a self-contained submarine, Zeus I. The sub will be used to scan the seabed and retrieve the ‘black boxes.’

At present, the arrival of Odyssey Explorer is unknown, however; Lebanese Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi was quoted as saying: “the submarine has left and should be here in the next few days.”

The cause of the crash remains unknown, the ‘black boxes’ are seen as an integral piece of the airliner which could possibly reveal the reason behind flight 409’s accident. Several sources have mentioned that they witnessed the plane crashing into the sea in a “ball of flames” during a severe thunderstorm, however; nothing else is known about the accident at present. Both Lebanese and Ethiopian officials have ruled out an act of terrorism.

Yet another matter of controversy in this terrible tragedy is the conjecture over how many of the deceased have been pulled from the water. A leading Lebanese publication has reported that 14 bodies have been recovered from the sea, with DNA testing completed on up to 50 relatives of the passengers and crew in an attempt to return the deceased to their families.

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Extensive Gallery [ 5 photos ]