BEIRUT ��" Lebanon's transportation minister said on Tuesday the pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines jet did not fly in the direction recommended by the Beirut control tower before the fatal crash. Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi told The Associated Press that the tower "asked him to correct, but then he did a very fast and strange turn". He added that it was not clear why that happened or whether it was beyond the pilot's control Flight ET409, a Boeing 737-800, heading for Addis Ababa, disappeared off the radar five minutes after taking off at 2:37 a.m. (0037 GMT). The Lebanese army said the plane had broken up in the air before plummeting into rough seas. One witness described the impact as a "flash that lit up the whole sea." Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said he did not think the plane had been brought down deliberately, emphasizing "a sabotage attack is unlikely." Defense Minister Elias el-Murr said that weather was "in principle" to blame for the crash. Ethiopian Airlines CEO Girma Wake said he had spoken with Lebanese authorities who had no word of survivors. Eighty-three passengers and seven crew were on the flight. Twenty-four bodies, including those of two toddlers, have so far been recovered. At least six bodies were of Ethiopians, officials said. Only one of the 14 bodies being examined at a Beirut hospital, where weeping relatives gathered, was recognizable. The rest would require DNA testing to identify them, Health Minister Mohamed Khalifeh said.
