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
.