DATE=8/11/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=EGYPT AIR INVESTIGATION (L)
NUMBER=2-265371
BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  Nearly a year after the crash of an Egyptian 
airliner off the coast of Massachusetts, U-S air 
safety investigators say they still have not 
determined what caused the jet to plunge into the 
Atlantic, killing all 217 people on board.   But 
Correspondent Nick Simeone reports some 16-hundred 
pages of documents about the investigation released 
Friday show no evidence of mechanical failure.


TEXT:   The National Transportation Safety Board is 
still not ready to conclude what brought down EgyptAir 
flight nine-90 last October 31st.  But the release of 
much of the investigation's findings does not seem to 
contradict early suggestions that a member of Egyptian 
cockpit crew may have deliberately caused the crash.

Alone in the cockpit, a relief co-pilot can be heard 
on the plane's voice recorder repeating in Arabic, "I 
rely on God", "I rely on God."  A second pilot then 
returns to find the plane in a nosedive.  He is heard 
on the tape saying, "What's happening? What's 
happening?"  Then, the tape records both pilots 
seemingly struggling to right the plane, with the 
second pilot asking the first, "Did you shut the 
engines?" and "Pull with me", an apparent and 
ultimately futile attempt to pull the plane out of its 
steep dive into the cold waters of the Atlantic.

On Friday, N-T-S-B Chairman Jim Hall told reporters U-
S air safety investigators have come up with nothing 
to support Egypt's claim that the plane must have had 
a mechanical problem.

            /// HALL ACT ///

      the Egyptian authorities have reviewed all the 
      material contained in the docket.  Where they 
      have disagreements, they have been given the 
      opportunity to submit those disagreements in 
      writing.

            /// END ACT ///

Chairman Hall says he stands by statements he made in 
the days following the crash, that the plane may have 
been taken down by the deliberate action of a 
crewmember.  But the leader of the Egyptian 
investigating team, Mohsen El Missiry, rejects any 
suggestion that an Egyptair pilot may be responsible, 
saying more investigation needs to be done into 
possible mechanical failure.

            /// EL MISSIRY ACT ///

      This is painful for the families and harmful to 
      the integrity of the investigation, which has 
      not reached any conclusion.  Egypt will continue 
      to pursue the truth behind this tragedy.

            /// END ACT ///

The investigation has strained U-S - Egyptian 
relations and has already cost an estimated 17-million 
dollars.  A final conclusion into what brought the 
plane down could still be months away.   (SIGNED)

NEB/NJS/JP




11-Aug-2000 16:51 PM LOC (11-Aug-2000 2051 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.