When there is nothing you can do but pray as your plane is hit by violent lightning…
One of the worst things a passenger can experience when flying on a passenger airliner is sudden turbulence. Even worse is when this turbulence is experienced just after take off and just before landing. That said an Ethiopian airline plane, a Boeing 737, flight number 409 has just been reported to have crashed off the coast of Lebanon amidst heavy lightning storms.
Reports the Daily Mail (UK):
Ninety people are feared dead after an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed into the Mediterranean sea during a thunderstorm shortly after taking off from Beirut.
The plane, said to be a Boeing 737, disappeared off the radar some five minutes after take-off early on Monday.
Eight-two passengers and eight crew were aboard, according to the plane’s manifest.
What can one do in the face of nature and its inconsistent temperament? We’re sure speculation will come as to the mechanical veracity of the craft and whether it should have in fact have taken off in such adverse conditions. In the meantime there will be a lot of people grieving but what’s not lost is the fact that Ethiopian airlines planned to make new acquisitions of planes.
Last Friday it announced an order for 10 of Boeing’s Next-Generation 737-800s for a total price of $767 million.
Reports the NYT’s – The Boeing 737 is one of the most widely used planes in the world, and while it has a fine overall safety record, it has been involved in a few crashes in Europe and Africa in recent years.
One can only wonder if the passengers and crew were flying in those new crafts they would still be alive and safely descending into the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa… As of now all passengers are feared dead as people off the coast saw large fire balls suddenly erupt in the sky. The image above says it all…
