Ethiopian Airlines Denies Crash Report

According to reports, Ethiopian Airlines is refusing to accept a crash report from Lebanese civil defense. Apparently, the Lebanese report goes on to blame the pilot for the crash. The report suspects that it was simply pilot error that caused flight ET409 to go down.

For those that do not remember, flight ET409 went down in January of 2010. Due to this crash, some 90 people lost their lives. Lebanese officials say that it was pilot error, but Ethiopian Airlines says that the plane exploded, and no kind of pilot error could have caused that. This is why the airline believes that it was sabotage, lightning, or someone shot it down.

This flight, which was bound for Addis Ababa, crashed just minutes after taking off from Beirut in stormy weather on January 25. After the plane crashed, no survivors could be found. Ghazi Aridi, who is the Lebanese Transport Minister, said it was clear that there were errors on the part of the pilot and the co-pilot. They are entirely responsible for this crash. The plane was sound and transcripts of the exchange between the crew and air traffic control on takeoff had not indicated any kind of problem.

So what caused the pilot error? Well, according to the Lebanese report, the pilot and co-pilot had been working nonstop for 51 days. Thus, these two men were simply exhausted and made bad calls. This is why the industry is working so hard to get pilot fatigue rules into place. On top of this, officials say that the report does accuse the pilots of completely ignoring instructions from the control tower.

Either way, Ethiopian Airlines refuses to believe these claims. The airline said that their crew was well rested and in accordance with regulations. The pilots had made appropriate efforts to control the plane.

Of course, the airline’s refusal to accept the report brings up another good question: Why is the airline fighting this report so bad? Well, if the report gets accepted, then this raises even more questions about fatigue rules. The airline could be investigated, and a number of other problems could be found.

Desta Zeru, who is the vice-president of flight operations for Ethiopian Airlines, said that the air traffic control officers and other airlines’ pilots witnessed a ball of fire on the aircraft in the air. The plane disintegrated in the air due to an explosion. This could not of been caused by pilot error.

If what Ethiopian Airlines is saying is true, then it is possible that the Lebanese government is trying to cover something up with this report. However, just what they could be trying to cover up is a complete mystery. At this point, it is extremely hard to tell which side is in the right. However, it is apparent that both sides believe they are correct.