Black Box Retrieved 14 Days after Ethiopian Plane Crash
Lebanese Army Command announced Sunday afternoon that divers from the army's Navy Commando Regiment were able to pull eight bodies from the sea in addition to one of two of the Ethiopian plane's black boxes which was moved to Beirut naval base to be handed over to crash investigators.
A statement issued by the army command said the black box had been retrieved around 11:35 am.
Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi said the flight data recorder had been retrieved and that efforts continued to recover the cockpit voice recorder.
The boxes were found under a rear section of the fuselage, Aridi said, adding that the cockpit was also located on Sunday.
"Divers from Navy Commando Regiment were able to pull eight bodies belonging to victims of the ill-fated Ethiopian plane up till now, the search is ongoing to find the remaining bodies," an army communique issued Sunday afternoon stated, bringing to 23 the number retrieved. The bodies include those of two toddlers.
Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalifeh said earlier on Sunday that an unspecified number of bodies had been found at the site where the black boxes were located.
Officials have said the captain was instructed by the control tower to turn to a certain heading, but that the aircraft then took a different course.
The probe is being undertaken by a Lebanese technical team backed by the Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses (BEA), France's accident investigation agency, and a final report will go to Lebanon, Ethi read more ...
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