Ethiopian Plane Crash

An Ethiopian Airlines plane probably crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after taking off from Beirut early this morning, state-run Lebanese National News Agency reported.

The Boeing Co. aircraft disappeared at about 4:30 a.m., with 92 people passengers and crew onboard, the report said. The plane disappeared from radar screens after leaving Rafik Hariri International Airport at 2:10 a.m., said an airport official, who declined to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media.

Flight ET409 was bound for Addis Ababa, according to the airport’s Web site. The passengers included about 50 Lebanese nationals, with most of the remainder from Ethiopia, Sky News reported, without saying where it got the information from.

Lebanon has been hit by a wave of torrential rain in the past week.

Read more.