Questions About Crew In EgyptAir Crash Probe 11-17-99

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Questions About Crew<br>

In EgyptAir Crash Probe

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<FONT SIZE=1 color="#666666" face="arial,helvetica"><time>Updated 1.46 p.m. ET (1846 GMT) November 17, 1999</time></FONT>



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<FN_ARTICLE><font size=3> The possibility that a backup pilot seized control of EgyptAir Flight 990 and sent the jetliner into its fatal plunge has become the focus of the crash probe, sources said Tuesday.

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<font size="1" color="#666666" face="arial, helvetica">Enric Marti/AP</font></td></tr>

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<tr><td align=left><font size=1 face=helvetica,arial>A portrait of EgyptAir's co-pilot Gamil al-Batouti can be seen in his family's house in Cairo

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But disagreements between Egyptian and U.S. officials over the significance of what might have been a prayer uttered in the flight's final moments delayed an FBI probe of the crash.

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A federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of

anonymity, said Wednesday that the Arabic words spoken by a

crew member in the co-pilot seat have been translated as: "I made

my decision now. I put my faith in God's hands."

<p> The official said the crew member, whom he would not name, was

believed to be alone in the cockpit at the time and spoke just

before the jet's autopilot was turned off.<p>

<b>Focus Turns to Crew</b>

<p> While it is too early to conclude whether the crew played any role in

the Oct. 31 crash that killed 217 people, said a source close to the

investigation Tuesday, the disclosure has focused attention on the four-man crew,

including Capt. Gamil al-Batouti, a relief co-pilot nearing

retirement after 35 years with the state-owned airline.

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<p> Egyptian airline officials have tentatively identified the

person in the co-pilot's seat as Batouti after listening to the

cockpit voice recorder, one of two "black boxes" recovered from

the crash site 60 miles off the Massachusetts coast.

<p> Batouti, 59, was scheduled to take over much later in the New

York-to-Cairo flight from co-pilot Adel Anwar. Another source close

to the investigation said the tape showed Batouti came to the

cockpit, "said he wanted to fly" and his request was accepted.

<p> The <i>New York Times</i> reported Wednesday that Batouti was left alone in

the cockpit, repeating an Arabic phrase that can mean "I entrust

myself to God" at about the same time the jet's autopilot is

turned off. The plane began a steep plunge from 33,000 feet just

after that, regaining some altitude before dropping into the sea.

<p> Investigators suggested the pilot, Capt. Ahmed Mahmoud

al-Habashi, returned to the cockpit and struggled to regain control

of the jet, the <i>Times</i> reported, citing unidentified government

officials.

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<font size="1" color="#666666" face="arial, helvetica">Reuters</font></td></tr>

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<tr><td align=left><font size=1 face=helvetica,arial>EgyptAir says Anwar was in good physical and mental condition, passing checkups in the past five months

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<p> The jet's two engines were effectively shut down during the

dive, according to the cockpit data recorder. Sources also told the

<i>Times</i> that the unusual split in the plane's elevators — flaps on

the tail that bend down or up to raise or lift the plane's nose —

may have been caused as one pilot tried to lift the plane out of a

dive and another forced the controls down.

<p>Officials said after the prayer the words "Pull with me. Help me. Pull with me," are spoken, apparently by al-Habashi, as he struggled to retard the tragic nosedive.



<p> At a news conference Tuesday in Washington, National

Transportation Safety Board Chairman James Hall said no sign of

mechanical malfunction has been identified in the crash of the

Boeing 767.

<p> But he stopped short of turning the case over to the FBI at

Egypt's request to allow additional Egyptian experts more time to

analyze the last recorded words of the pilots so they might

contribute more understanding to what was said.

<p> "As long as there are differences in the interpretation — and

there are significant differences in the cultural interpretations

of some expressions on the recorder — I think it is unfair ... for

us to characterize it," he said.

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<b>Egyptian Officials to Help With Investigation</b>

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Egypt dispatched its most senior aviation official to Washington to take part in the EgyptAir Flight 990 crash investigation after questioning the need to turn over the

probe to the FBI, officials said Wednesday.

<p> Government and EgyptAir officials said Gen. Abdel Fatah Qatus,

head of Egypt's Civil Aviation Authority, flew to Washington late

Tuesday heading a delegation of technical experts and security and

military intelligence officers.

<p> Although the phrase heard on the voice recorder has been

characterized as a prayer, that doesn't mean it was related to the

cause of the disaster. Arabic speakers make references to God in

everyday statements.

<p> Over the weekend, EgyptAir insisted that al-Habashi and Anwar

were in good physical and mental condition, passing checkups in the

past five months.

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<font size="1" color="#666666" face="arial, helvetica">AP</font></td></tr>

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<tr><td align=left><font size=1 face=helvetica,arial>Sharif al-Batouti, right, cousin of Egyptair's co-pilot Capt. Gamil al-Batouti, speaks to journalists next to the sons of his relative Karim, center, and Mohammed at the family house in Cairo</font></td></tr></table>

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<p>

"They were among our best pilots," said Hassan Misharfa,

EgyptAir's head of operations. "They had long experience and, in

addition to that, they had passed all professional, safety and

psychological tests successfully."

<p> The airline did not address the condition of the other two

pilots, Batouti and Capt. Raouf Noureddin. U.S. investigators are

now studying the background of all crew members, including Batouti.

<p> Married 27 years with five children, Batouti joined EgyptAir in

1987 after training pilots at Egypt's Civil Aviation Authority and

the air force. He had more than 5,000 flight hours in a Boeing 767

and was to have retired in March.

<p> His 10-year-old daughter, Aya, suffers from the immune disorder

lupus erythematosis, and had been treated in the United States.

<p> "She was everything to him," his brother-in-law Essam Dahi

said. "Only God will be able to give her the kind of love her

father offered."

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Her treatment at UCLA Medical Center saddled Batouti with sizable medical bills, ABC News reported.

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The <i>Al-Ahram</i> newspaper has reported that Batouti sent home money and a present for his daughter the day before the crash. But Mohammed Batouti, the pilot's son, denied that the family had any financial problems. He said the money was for a $300 phone bill and that since his father had no life insurance, the family had nothing to gain from Batouti's death.

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Another EgyptAir pilot who knew Batouti said he'd handed over a small amount of money to be given to his family "if anything happened" and his mood had grown darker just before the crash.

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"His mood since 30 days ago was different, sad," Medhat el Kadah told CBS News.

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Dahi also remembered asking Batouti recently if he ever felt nervous flying over the ocean so often.

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"We see our deaths every day over the ocean," Batouti had replied.

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But Batouti didn't dwell on that which he could not predict, Dahi said. He was "a man of experience, honor and, most importantly, faith."

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Egypt's official media on Wednesday denied the religious phrase possibly heard on the cockpit voice tape was anything suspicious.

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Cairo newspapers carried a report by the official Middle East News Agency which said: "Uttering the shihada (short declaration of faith in Islam) is normal in times of crisis or when a plane experiences an emergency."

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<i>— AP, Reuters and the New York Post contributed to this report</i>

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