Facts about the Crash of Flight 990 of Egypt Air
Flight 990 was a Los Angeles-New York-Cairo flight operated by EgyptAir. On October 31, 1999, at around 1:50 a.m. EST, Flight 990 dove into the Atlantic Ocean, about 60 miles south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, killing all 217 people on board. There were 14 members of crew on the flight and 203 pessengers from seven countries abord in Flight 990, none of them survived. Radar and radio contact with the Boeing 767-366ER aircraft was lost 30 minutes after the aircraft departed JFK Airport in New York on its flight to Cairo. The flight departed from its assigned altitude (FL330: 33,000 feet) and dove to 16,000 feet, then climbed again to 24,000 then continued to dive, hitting the Atlantic Ocean within the span of 36 seconds. Flight data showed that the flight controls were used to move the elevators in order to initiate and sustain the steep dive. Forces on the captain's and first officer's control columns were recorded and completely consistent with the recorded elevator deflections and a struggle for control of the aircraft. There were no other aircraft in the area. There was no indication that an explosion occurred on board. The engines operated normally for the entire flight until they shut down and the left engine was torn from the wing from the stress of the maneuvers. An investigation by the NTSB determined that the relief first officer, Gameel Al-Batouti, at the controls while the captain was out of the cockpit, turned off the autopilot, and deliberately crashed the plane into the ocean. While investigation made in Egypt deny's NTSB's point of view. There was some functional problem in the plane and Al-Batouti was trying to resolve it. However, The crash of flight 990 of Egypt Air still remains a mystery after so many years. |
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