BEIRUT — The first sign of trouble was a flash of light on the horizon Monday — and then witnesses said the Boeing 737 tumbled like “fire falling down from the sky” into the stormy Mediterranean Sea.
All 90 aboard were feared dead in the predawn crash. Lebanon’s leaders ruled out terrorism while investigators collected witness accounts in hopes they could provide clues.
Aviation experts cautioned it was too early to know what brought down the Ethiopian Airlines jet — particularly without the black boxes.
Many people were giving DNA samples to help identify the remains of their loved ones. One man identified his 3-year-old nephew by the boy’s overalls.
“Please find my son,” pleaded Zeinab Seklawi, whose 24-year-old son Yasser was on Flight 409, bound for the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
At the Government Hospital in Beirut, Red Cross workers brought in bodies covered with wool blankets as relatives gathered nearby.
No survivors had been found by nightfall, and the health minister told reporters 21 bodies were recovered. Marla Pietton, the American-born wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon, was among those on board, according to the French Embassy.
The Boeing 737-800 took off about 2:30 a.m. in driving rain, lightning and thunder and went down 2 miles off the coast, said Ghazi Aridi, the public-works and transportation minister.
Hours after the crash, pieces of the plane and other debris were washing ashore, including a baby sandal, passenger seats, a fire extinguisher, suitcases and bottles of medicine.
“We saw fire falling down from the sky into the sea,” said Khaled Naser, a gas-station attendant who saw the plane plunge into waters that had reached 64 degrees by Monday afternoon.
The Lebanese army also said the plane was on fire shortly after takeoff.
A defense official said some witnesses reported the plane broke into three pieces.
Aviation safety analyst Chris Yates said reports of fire could suggest “some cataclysmic failure of one of the engines” or that a bird or debris had been sucked into the engine. He noted that modern aircraft are built to withstand all but the foulest weather conditions.
