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DATE=12/8/1999 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=EGYPTAIR SITREP (L/S) NUMBER=2-256977 BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: Six weeks after the crash of EgyptAir flight 990 off the U-S coast, federal air safety investigators are still trying to find out what caused the disaster. The F-B-I is continuing to look into whether the New York-to-Cairo flight was brought down by a criminal act. Correspondent Nick Simeone brings us the latest in the on-going investigation into a tragedy that killed 217 people. TEXT: The F-B-I is moving ahead with its investigation of the EgyptAir crash, even though the probe still officially remains in the hands of the National Transportation Safety Board. No cause has been ruled out and all leads are being pursued. A half dozen F-B-I agents have been in Cairo conducting interviews and going over the list of the plane's cargo. F-B-I Spokesman Joe Valiquette says they are investigating everyone associated with the October 31st flight. /// VALIQUETTE ACT /// Such things as identifying all airport personnel and airline personnel who may have come in contact with the plane, those people who service the plane, fuel the plane, clean the plane, change the movies on the plane, put food on the plane, anybody who had access to the plane. /// END ACT /// Law enforcement sources say it's just a matter of time before the F-B-I takes the lead in a criminal investigation, meaning the National Transportation Safety Board would be ruling out the possibility that the plane was brought down by mechanical failure. /// REST OPT FOR LONG /// The Egyptian government remains critical of early speculation by some U-S officials that a suicidal relief pilot, alone in the cockpit at the time, may have deliberately crashed the plane for some unknown reason. But Charles Weston, owner of Philadelphia's Carlson Wagonlit Travel, believes Egypt's tourism industry is likely to suffer more if the cause of the crash is ruled to be mechanical failure, not pilot sabotage. /// WESTON ACT /// I think in that case, it would have a downward effect on Egyptian tourism because people would be a little bit afraid it might happen again. If it was ruled to be pilot sabotage, in that case I would certainly understand that as the act of one deranged individual and not worry about the long term. /// END ACT /// Meanwhile, salvage operations are underway in waters off the Massachusetts coast to try to recover human remains and as much of the plane as possible, as investigators hope for more clues into a crash that still remains a mystery. (Signed) NEB/NJS/TVM/gm 08-Dec-1999 16:49 PM EDT (08-Dec-1999 2149 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .