Mystery of Oct 31st in Aviation History

On this day,

An EgyptAir 767-300ER crashed in the Atlantic Ocean about 60 miles (96 km) south of Nantucket Is. The aircraft, with 203 passengers and 14 crew members, crashed shortly after taking off from JFK airport early in the morning of 31 October 1999. All aboard the aircraft were killed. The accident was investigated by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and the final report submitted in March 2002.

 

Flight 990 a Los Angeles-New York-Cairo flight operated by EgyptAir. On October 31, 1999, at around 1:50 a.m. EST, Flight 990 dove into the Atlantic Ocean, about 60 miles south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.

 

Radar and radio contact with the Boeing 767-366ER aircraft (Registration number: SU-GAP) was lost 30 minutes after the aircraft departed JFK Airport in New York on its flight to Cairo. The flight departed from its flight level and dove to 16,000 feet, then climbed again to 24,000 then continued to dive, hitting the Atlantic Ocean within the span of 36 seconds.

 

Flight data showed that the flight controls were used to move the elevators in order to initiate and sustain the steep dive. Forces on the captain's and first officer's control columns were recorded and completely consistent with the recorded elevator deflections and a struggle for control of the aircraft. There were no other aircraft in the area. There was no indication that an explosion occurred on board. The engines operated normally for the entire flight until they shut down and the left engine was torn from the wing from the stress of the manuevers.

 

An investigation by the NTSB determined that the relief first officer, Gamil Al-Batouti, at the controls while the captain was out of the cabin, turned off the autopilot, and deliberately crashed the plane into the ocean, while calmly reciting "Tawakalt ala Allah" ("I put my trust in God") and counteracting the captain's efforts to recover from the dive. His motivation for these actions can only be guessed and are not addressed, but suicide or homicidal intentions towards some of the passengers or crew are possibilities in light of the NTSB analysis.

 

More reports:

The Enterprise Mission - The REAL Mystery of Egypt Air flight 990

http://www.welfarestate.com/flight990/