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)
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Source: Voice of America
.