DATE=10/31/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=EGYPTAIR 990 (UPDATE)(L)
NUMBER=2-255675
BYLINE=LARRY FREUND
DATELINE=NEW YORK
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:


INTRO: Investigators are searching for clues for the 
cause of the crash of an EgyptAir Boeing 767 airliner 
shortly after it took off early Sunday from New York's 
Kennedy Airport, on a flight to Cairo. Two hundred 
seventeen people were aboard the aircraft and no 
survivors have been located. Correspondent Larry 
Freund reports from New York.  


TEXT: The National Transportation Safety Board, N-T-S-
B - the U-S agency responsible for air crash 
investigations - has sent its investigators to the 
crash scene to begin searching for evidence to explain 
why EgyptAir Flight 990 fell into the ocean about 100 
kilometers south of the island of Nantucket 
(Massachusetts). Radar indicates the aircraft fell 
very quickly shortly after taking off from New York.

One of the key items searchers will try to find is the 
"black box," the on-board flight data and voice 
recorder that may explain what caused what one senior 
investigator calls an enormous human tragedy.
Rear Admiral Richard Larrabee of the U-S Coast Guard 
said locating that black box is a top priority.

            /// LARRABEE ACTUALITY ///

      One of my concerns right now is locating and 
      recovering that black box.

            /// END ACT ///

The EgyptAir flight originated in Los Angeles, 
California, and took off for Cairo after stopping in 
New York for about an hour to receive additional 
passengers and to re-fuel.

President Clinton told reporters there is no evidence 
of foul play but investigators say nothing can be 
ruled out.

Families of the passengers aboard the jetliner 
gathered at a hotel at Kennedy Airport, where they 
spoke with New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

            /// GIULIANI ACTUALITY ///

They are seeking information. And what we have tried 
to say to them is that this is going to be a very 
difficult process. At this point no one really has 
evidence of what happened. So everybody is 
speculating. And that is very dangerous. The N-T-S-B 
and the F-B-I and everyone else is going to 
investigate this very thoroughly. And it is going to 
take days, weeks, maybe even months to get a good 
picture of exactly what happened.

            /// END ACTUALITY ///

A special U-S Navy ship that has been used to lift 
wreckage of other aircraft from the ocean floor is on 
its way to the crash scene. (signed)


NEB/NY/LSF/gm



31-Oct-1999 19:15 PM EDT (01-Nov-1999 0015 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.