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BEIRUT (Reuters) - The pilot of an Ethiopian airliner that crashed off the Lebanese coast did not respond to a request to change direction before contact was cut, the Lebanese transport minister said on Tuesday.

He said it was too early, however, to draw any conclusion of pilot error.

Ghazi Aridi said the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane made a sharp turn before disappearing off the radar early Monday. A few minutes later the plane plunged into the sea with 90 people on board, all of whom are feared dead.

"The control tower asked him to go in a certain direction, but the pilot was not responsive, then communication was cut off and the plane disappeared off the radar," Aridi told Reuters.

"We don't know why he did that or what happened," he said. It was important not to jump to conclusions of pilot-error until the data recorders were found to determine what happened.

Lebanese and international search teams, including a U.S. naval vessel as well as European and U.N. peacekeeping ships, helicopters and planes scoured the Mediterranean coast for the victims and missing flight recorders.

Flight ET409 was carrying mostly Lebanese and Ethiopian passengers and was headed to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

The plane apparently broke up in the air before crashing into the sea during a thunderstorm in a ball of fire before dawn on Monday.