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A U.S. navy vessel located flight recorders from an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed off the coast of Lebanon on Monday. 

 

According to a security official, the U.S. ship located black boxes that were about 4,000 feet underwater. Search teams need to assess the best way to retrieve the recorders.

 

Flight ET409, a Boeing 737-800, was carrying 90 passengers, mostly Lebanese and Ethiopian, and was heading to Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

 

The plane apparently broke up in the air before plunging in a ball of fire into the Mediterranean during a thunderstorm early on Monday.

 

The security official also said it was too early to say whether the USS Ramage had also located the plane’s fuselage.

 

Lebanese and international teams, including European and U.N. peacekeeping ships, helicopters, planes and divers have been scouring a search area 6 miles out to sea for the plane's fuselage and more of its victims.     

 

The search has been hampered by rough seas and uneven depth of the sea bed.     

 

The flight recorders would shed light on why the pilot did not respond to a request to change direction even though he acknowledged the control tower's commands.     

 

Only 14 bodies and some body parts have been recovered.

 

The eight-year-old plane last underwent a maintenance check on Dec. 25 and no technical problems were found.