DATE=11/16/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=EGYPT AIR INVESTIGATION (L)
NUMBER=2-256226
BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The investigation into the crash of EgyptAir
Flight-990 is expected to be turned over to the F-B-I.
Federal air safety investigators say they found
suspicious comments on the plane's cockpit voice
recorder. Correspondent Nick Simeone has the latest
in the investigation.
TEXT: Government sources say an EgyptAir crew member
is heard on the voice recorder uttering something
religious in nature, perhaps a Muslim prayer, in
Arabic.
Investigators are expected to announce -- perhaps as
early as today (Tuesday)-- the F-B-I is taking over
the case as a possible act of sabotage.
From what investigators say, it is unclear whether the
comments on the voice recorder were the last words of
a pilot determined to take the plane down or a
reaction to events during the final moments of the
flight.
The National Transportation Safety Board has been
reviewing the 31-minutes of recorded cockpit
conversations. Aviation expert Michael Hynes points
out much more still needs to be learned about what
those comments mean.
// HYNES ACT //
If I was sitting in that airplane knowing that
my life was going to end, I think maybe I might
have uttered a prayer and said goodbye to my
family on the way down. So I am not too sure
just how that prayer was said and what other
conversations were going on at that time.
// END ACT //
But the cryptic comments heard on the voice recorder
drew particular concern because EgyptAir's crew made
no distress call to air-traffic controllers indicating
a problem on board.
More than two-weeks after the crash killed all 217
people on board, air-safety investigators have found
nothing to explain what caused the Boeing 7-6-7 to
plunge into the Atlantic Ocean after take-off from New
York for Cairo.
But National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim
Hall says he is confident the mystery of Flight-990
will be solved. (SIGNED)
NEB/NJS/RAE
16-Nov-1999 12:51 PM EDT (16-Nov-1999 1751 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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