Following a night takeoff from Beirut, Lebanon, the flight crew of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 acknowledged an air traffic controller’s assignment of a heading to keep the Boeing 737-800 away from isolated thunderstorms over the Mediterranean. The instruction was repeated — and acknowledged — several times, but the crew never established the aircraft on the assigned heading. Ground radar showed that the 737 flew a meandering path for about five minutes before entering a steep turn and descending rapidly to the sea, killing all 90 people aboard.
Based on the findings of an investigation team commissioned by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Works and Transport, the final report concluded that the probable causes of the Jan. 25, 2010, accident were “the flight crew’s mismanagement of the aircraft’s speed, altitude, headings and attitude through inconsistent flight control inputs, resulting in a loss of control.” The report also faulted the flight crew for “their failure …
