The Boeing 737-800 bound for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, was carrying 8 crew members and 82 passengers when it crashed into the Mediterranean early yesterday shortly after takeoff from Beirut amid hail and thunder. The U.S.-born wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon was among the passengers.

Authorities have yet to find the flight data and voice recorders, or black boxes, that could yield clues about the cause of the crash. But officials said the ferocious overnight storm that blanketed the small country’s mountains with snow was likely a major factor.

“Bad weather was apparently the cause of the crash,” said Defense Minister Elias Murr, according to local news outlets. “We have ruled out foul play so far.”

Lebanon’s airport has been a subject of controversy because of allegations that the Shiite Muslim political group maintains a security presence there to oversee the importation of weapons. No flights originating in Lebanon land in North America, largely because of security concerns.

But Lebanese and Ethiopian officials quickly discounted the possibility of terrorism or sabotage in the downing of the plane. A spokesman for the Addis Ababa government said the airline had received no prior threats.

Rescue workers found no one to save. They could only retrieve corpses of those aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed into the sea early Monday during a fierce winter storm.

More than 4,000 Sailors and Marines from the USS Nassau (LHA 4) Amphibious Ready Group (NAS ARG) and 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24th MEU) received orders to deploy to Haiti to conduct humanitarian assistance and disaster response missions.

The NAS ARG departed Norfolk Jan. 18 for a regularly scheduled deployment to the 5th and 6th Fleet Areas of Responsibility, but the NAS ARG has been ordered to proceed to Haiti after completing its onload of Marines from the 24th MEU in Morehead City, N.C. The decision to divert the NAS ARG/24th MEU from its planned deployment was made by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen based on continuing urgent needs in the Haiti relief effort.

The addition of the NAS ARG/24 MEU brings the total number of U.S. Navy and Military Sealift Command ships participating in the relief effort to 20, along with their associated Marine Corps units. These forces include:

USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70)
USS Bataan (LHD 5)
USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44)
USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43)
USS Carter Hall (LSD 50)
USS Normandy (CG 60)
USS Underwood (FFG 36)
22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU 22)
USS Nassau (LHD 4)
USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19)
USS Ashland (LSD 48)
24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU 24)
USS Higgins (DDG 76)
USS Bunker Hill (CG 52)
USNS Comfort (T-AH 20)
USNS Grasp (T-ARS 51)
USNS Henson (T-AGS-63)
USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE 2)
USNS Sumner (T-AGS-61)
USNS 1st LT Jack Lummus (T-AK 3011)
USNS PFC Dewayne T. Williams (T-AK 3009)
USNS Big Horn (T-AO-198)

Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft is assisting with the humanitarian aid mission in Haiti after the country suffered a 7.0 magnitude earthquake last January 12.

Not only will the Global Hawk’s advanced imagery provide an overall assessment of the damages, it will also help expeditiously direct aircrew flying into Haiti to deliver crucial supplies to those affected by the earthquake.

Imagery collected by the Global Hawk will be used to determine what regions of the country were hit hardest by the earthquake, Lieutenant Colonel (US Air Force) Mark Lozier, operations officer with the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron, said on 14 January.

“We can take a look at airfields to assess, right now, whether or not we will be able to get airlift in there with aid,” Col Lozier said. “We don’t have to wait for a ground team to get in there and make on-site decisions.”

This is not the first time the Global Hawk has been used to assist in a humanitarian crisis. In 2007, the imagery from the Global Hawk was used to assist California firefighters battling blazes in Southern California.

Authorities say two people are dead following the crash of a single engine airplane in southwest Michigan.

Emma E. Biagioni was a junior at Hope College in Holland, Mich. She was killed along with a fellow student, pilot David O. Otai, 23, said Hope College spokesman Tom Renner.

The crash was reported around 11:30 a.m. Sunday in Manlius Township. The plane went down into a snow-covered field. The sheriff’s department says the small plane made a distress call shortly before it disappeared from radar.

Plane wreckage was soon spotted in the field. Visibility in the area was reduced to an eighth of a mile because of dense fog, authorities said.
The two victims were found trapped in the wreckage and were pronounced dead on the scene.

A memorial service for both students was held on campus Sunday night, drawing some 1,100 people, Renner said.