23 bodies found at Lebanon air crash site

An Ethiopian Airlines plane carrying 90 people caught fire and crashed into the Mediterranean shortly after takeoff on Monday from Beirut, setting off a frantic search as rain lashed the coast and debris washed ashore. At least 23 bodies were recovered.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Lebanon has been slammed by bad weather since Sunday night, with crackling thunder, lightning and pouring rain.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said terrorism was not suspected in the crash of Flight 409, which was headed for the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

"Sabotage is ruled out as of now," he said.

Relatives of the passengers streamed into Beirut's airport to wait for news. Andree Qusayfi said his brother, 35-year-old Ziadh, was travelling to Ethiopia for work at a computer company.

"We begged him to postpone his flight because of the storm," Mr. Qusayfi said, his eyes red from crying. "But he insisted on going because he had work appointments."

One woman at the airport cried out, "Where is my son?"

The Boeing 737-800 took off around 2:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. EST) and went down 2 miles (3.5 kilometers) off the coast, said Ghazi Aridi, the public works and transportation minister. The Lebanese army said in a statement the plane was "on fire shortly after takeoff."

"The weather undoubtedly was very bad," Mr. Aridi told reporters at the airport.

Pieces of the plane and debris were washing ashore in the hours after the crash, including passenger seats, a fire extinguisher and bottles of medicine.

The wife of Denis Pietton, the French ambassador to Lebanon, was on the plane, according to the French embassy.

Helicopters and naval ships were scrambled for a rescue effort as huge waves slammed into the shore and rain lashed the coast.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced a day of mourning and closed schools and government offices.

Ethiopian Airlines' CEO Girma Wake told journalists in Addis Ababa that he had no information on the fate of those on board or about the cause of the crash. He said the aircraft had been serviced on December 25 and passed inspection.

He also said the plane had been leased in September from CIT Aerospace. Calls to CIT Aerospace were not immediately returned on Monday.

The plane was carrying 90 people, including 83 passengers and seven crew. Mr. Aridi identified the passengers as 54 Lebanese, 22 Ethiopians, one Iraqi, one Syrian, one Canadian of Lebanese origin, one Russian of Lebanese origin, a French woman and two Britons of Lebanese origin.

Ethiopian Airlines reported that there were 82 passengers and eight crew; the discrepancy could not immediately be explained.

The Boeing 737 is considered one of the safest planes in airline service. The jet was first introduced in the 1960s, and today is the workhorse on many short- and medium-range routes.

Still, over the past 15 years it was involved in a series of incidents and crashes linked to a valve in the rudder assembly. This reportedly would malfunction and cause the rudder to turn independently of the pilot's commands.

The problem was considered resolved after operators of older Boeing 737s were ordered to carry out inspections and upgrades of the critical rudder control systems.

Ethiopian Airlines has long had a reputation for high-quality service compared to other African airlines, with two notable crashes in more than 20 years.

A hijacked Ethiopian Airlines jet crash-landed off the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean when it ran out of fuel in November 1996, killing 126 of the 175 people aboard. The plane had just left Addis Ababa when three hijackers stormed the cockpit and demanded to be taken to Australia.

In September 1988, an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed shortly after taking off when it ran into a flock of birds, killing 31 of the 104 people on board.