The Lebanese report blames pilot error for the crash of
flight ET409, in which 90 people died, sources say.
But Ethiopian Airlines officials say the plane exploded,
which they say points to sabotage, a lightning strike or shooting down.
The Lebanese report was due to be released on Tuesday.
The Addis Ababa-bound flight crashed minutes after take-off
from Beirut in stormy weather on 25 January 2010, with no survivors.
Lebanese Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi told AFP news agency
it was "clear" that "there were errors on the part of the pilot
and co-pilot who are entirely responsible for the plane crash".
According to AFP, the Lebanese report says the pilot and
co-pilot had been working non-stop for 51 days and were exhausted.
Mr Aridi said the plane was sound and transcripts of the
exchanges between the crew and air traffic control on takeoff had not indicated
any problem.
'Biased and incomplete'
Other officials say the report accuses the pilot of ignoring
instructions from the control tower. Similar claims were made by Lebanese
officials at the time of the crash.
But Ethiopian Airlines has vigorously denied the Lebanese
findings in a statement, in which it insisted the crew was rested in accordance
with regulation and the pilot had made appropriate efforts to control the
aircraft.
"ATC [air traffic control] officers and other airlines'
pilots have witnessed a ball of fire on the aircraft in the air," Desta
Zeru, vice-president of flight operations for Ethiopian Airlines, said in the
statement.
"The aircraft disintegrated in the air due to
explosion, which could have been caused by a shoot-down, sabotage or lightning
strike," he said.
The Lebanese report is "biased, lacking evidence,
incomplete and did not present the full account of the accident", the statement
quoted the airline's CEO Tewolde Gebremariam as saying.
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