DATE=11/16/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=EGYPT AIR INVESTIGATION UPDATE (L)
NUMBER=2-256253
BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Differences have emerged between the United
States and Egypt over the course of the investigation
into the crash of Egypt Air flight 990. On Tuesday,
the White House said it expected the inquiry to be
turned over to the FBI, which was set to look into the
possibility that a criminal act caused the plane to
crash while flying from New York to Cairo, killing all
217 people on board. But Correspondent Nick Simeone
reports, that is being delayed while Egypt sends more
experts to Washington to help interpret puzzling
comments made by a pilot on the cockpit voice
recorder.
TEXT: Clinton Administration officials said they
expected the FBI to take the lead in the case after it
emerged that a member of the plane's crew could be
heard uttering something apparently religious, perhaps
a Muslim prayer in Arabic, just before the plane
crashed.
But National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim
Hall told reporters late Tuesday Egyptian officials
want to further analyze the voice recorder before any
decision is made to launch an investigation into
possible sabotage.
// HALL ACT //
There are still some differences in some of the
cultural interpretations of the Arabic language
that is spoken on the cockpit voice recorder.
We are working to determine exactly the meaning
of the words that are spoken.
// END ACT //
If what was heard on the tape was in fact a prayer,
investigators will no doubt want to know if these were
the last words of a pilot determined to take the plane
down in an act of sabotage. If the case is handed over
to the FBI, aviation expert Michael Hynes expects a
thorough look into the background of the pilot or
copilot.
// HYNES ACT //
Did he have a family problem? Did he have a
financial problem? Why would he have done this?
People don't commit suicide in any manner
without some type of motivation.
// END ACT //
Egypt Air dismisses suggestions of a suicide attempt
by one of the pilots, with an airline spokesman saying
the crew was both mentally and physically fit. More
than two weeks after the crash, investigators still
have no evidence that the plane was brought down by
mechanical failure.
Efforts are now underway to start bringing wreckage of
the Boeing 767 up from the floor of the Atlantic for a
painstaking search for clues that may lie buried with
the plane and its passengers. (SIGNED)
NEB/NJS/PT
16-Nov-1999 20:09 PM EDT (17-Nov-1999 0109 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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