[eastforker]

Benin???

[Dragthor]

COTONOU, Benin — A passenger jet crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after taking off from the West African country of Benin as it was headed for Beirut, witnesses and airport officials said.



At least 30 bodies were seen on the beach near the airport in Cotonou, Benin's main city, witnesses told Reuters. The airline carrier was not immediately known.

[leadpenny]

My daughter-in-law said it was on MSNBC about 10 minutes ago. Thought it was Beirut ??? Bodies on beach.

[Dog Gone]

I'm surprised Benin has an airport.

[weef]

Benin:

[TomGuy]

Boing jet. Little details. Approximately 30 bodies seen in the water. Was on way from Benin (Africa) to Berlin. Details sketchy.

[Senator Pardek]

Landing gear wouldn't go up - appears to be a tragic accident.

[leadpenny]

MSNBC: Reuters saying landig gear would not retract after take-off. Crashed into building near the beach.

[cmsgop]

It looks like a 727 to me.

[vannrox]

.


SPECULATION:

Key Terrorist Organizers die in flight on way to Islamic Home Base. Their Anti-US plans thwarted by CIA operatives. Note to Terriorists: "Plan to kill Americans using Aircraft...then you should avoid flying." Or as we say in the US..."People who live in Glass Houses shouldn't throw rocks".


.

[fso301]

Something tells me whatever happened occured during takeoff.

[TomGuy]

60 killed, per MSNBC, but there are many survivors (thank G_d).

[FairOpinion]

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1577523&nav=0RceJrOJ

Plane crashes off African coast, 90 people dead
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(COTONOU, Benin--AP, December 25, 2003, 3:00 p.m.) A jetliner carrying Lebanese workers home for the holidays crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff in the West African nation of Benin on Thursday, killing at least 90 people, witnesses said.

As many as 200 passengers and crew were on United Transit Airlines Flight 141 bound for Beirut from Cotonou, Benin's commercial capital, when the plane went down at 2:55 p.m., said Jerome Dandjinou, an airport security official.

A witness told Lebanese Hezbollah's Al Manar television that the plane had trouble taking off and hit a building at the end of the runway.

"The plane then exploded and crashed into the sea," the man said. "It's a horrible tragedy beyond imagination."

Ghabi Koudieh, a Lebanese expatriate in Cotonou, told Al Manar that 90 bodies were pulled out from the sea. At least 80 were Lebanese, he said. Other witnesses said there were about 35 Lebanese survivors.

Dozens of bodies floated among the plane's wreckage about 150 yards off a Cotonou beach, and residents waded into the surf to recover them.

Benin President Mattieu Kerekou also visited the crash site. Television images showed pieces of the plane lying in the surf: shorn-off landing gear, part of a wing, the cockpit and the rear part of the fuselage, along with an engine.

Tangled wires and metal hung from the ripped-open fuselage. One man sat in the sand, blood running down his bare chest. Another injured man held his head.

Airport officials in Beirut said the Boeing 727 had been chartered by two Lebanese men, and most of the passengers were believed to be returning home for the Christmas holidays.