By Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Africa/Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet Public Affairs
NAPLES, Italy (NNS) -- Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet is coordinating assets in support of search and rescue efforts Jan. 25 at the crash site of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 409 at the request of the government of Lebanon and U.S. Department of State.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET409 crashed shortly after take-off from Beirut International Airport en route to Ethiopia. Within hours, a U.S. P-3 Orion aircraft and the USS Ramage (DDG 61) arrived on scene and were assisting the on-scene commander from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
The P-3 Orion aircraft has departed the scene at this time.
Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet will continue to work with all participating parties and affected governments as the situation progresses.
Both the P-3 and Ramage were conducting regularly scheduled missions in the Eastern Mediterranean at the time of the crash.