Death among the clouds: the mysterious crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 (7 photos)

Complex technical devices break down. Including vehicles. But if in most cases the reason can be found out, then the story with this plane still seems to be not without a mystical component.





EgyptAir Flight 990 flew from Kennedy International Airport in New York to Cairo International Airport in Egypt on October 31, 1999. The flight went on schedule and without a hitch until the plane was over the ocean in the Massachusetts area.



A crashed plane two weeks before the disaster

At this time something went wrong. The plane began to rapidly descend, heading nose-first into the Atlantic Ocean. The situation was corrected, but then everything happened again. As a result, the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean 95 kilometers off the coast of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, at 1:50 am. Everyone on board died.

The Boeing 767 model 366 ER was just over 10 years old. According to investigators, no significant malfunctions were recorded either before the flight or after the crash. However, the Egyptian government continues to seek recognition of the findings of the American investigation as unreliable. Since the incident occurred on US soil, the investigation was carried out by American agencies.

NTSB investigation





Photos of crew members

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was investigating the flight crash. Assistance was provided by the FBI, US Coast Guard and other agencies. Their report of the crash was detailed, if sometimes contradictory. The plane carried passengers from North America, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, so their findings sparked international interest.

They are based on recordings of conversations in the cockpit and information collected from the destroyed aircraft.

Chronology of events



Flight diagram of Flight 990 in the last minutes before crash

The plane took off from John F. Kennedy International Airport at 1:20 am. During takeoff, there were three pilots in the cockpit. The captain-commander was Ahmed El Habashi. The first assistant commander was Adel Anwar, the second was Gamil El Batouti. Habashi was to supervise the first part of the flight while Batouti slept. Then they had to change.

About 20 minutes after takeoff, Gamil El Batouti told Ahmed El Habashi that he would not be sleeping, so he wanted to control the first part of the flight while Habashi got some sleep. Habashi initially objected, saying that Batuti should have told him about this earlier, since he was already asleep, preparing for the first leg of the flight. In the end, they agreed to switch.

Before Habashi gave up his seat at the helm, Batouti briefly left the cockpit, at which time Habashi expressed his displeasure, stating that Batouti was doing "whatever he pleases."

Gamil El Batouti takes control

When Batouti returned at 1:42 a.m., he took control of EgyptAir Flight 990. At 1:48 the captain-commander went to the toilet, telling Batuti that he would be back. At that moment, Batuti was alone in the cabin.

21 seconds after the captain left, Batuti quietly and calmly said: “Tawakilt ala Allah” (I rely on God). Less than a minute later, he turned off the autopilot and repeated the same phrase. He then shifted the throttle from cruise to low throttle and sent the plane into a steep nose dive.

Immediately after the flight headed toward the Atlantic Ocean, Batouti said “I trust in God” seven times in eight seconds. Speech analysts concluded that his speech patterns did not indicate stress. Moreover, he looked relaxed. The captain-commander returned to the cockpit after the seventh sentence. He asked twice what was going on. There were clear signs of panic in his voice. The commander managed to make a steep climb. But the plane went into a second nose dive, after which it crashed into the ocean at high speed.

Gamil El Batouti



Gamil El Batouti

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the crash was the result of the actions of Gamil El Batouti. The reason why Batouti forced the plane into a dive is unknown. There is no evidence that he was a terrorist or mentally ill. It's truly a mystery. However, investigators have convincingly proven that no technical malfunction could have led to the scenario in which the plane crashed into the ocean.

Egypt's position



Fuselage wreckage

Egyptian officials have strongly denied the NTSB's findings. They argued that American investigators were not thorough or scrupulous enough and that their conclusions were unfounded. Their own investigation revealed that the disaster was the result of a technical malfunction.

Actually, this is no longer so important. The plane crashed and everyone on board died. Batuti could have been a cold-blooded killer or simply a confused pilot. He could have had a stroke. You can make many different guesses and assumptions. But the cause of the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 will forever remain a mystery. EgyptAir, as a sign of respect for the passengers and crew of flight 990, changed the number of the New York-Cairo flight from MS990 to MS986.



Engine debris