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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 November 1999 Issue No. 454 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 November 1999 Issue No. 454
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Questions of responsibility
FOLLOWING the downing of EgyptAir flight 990, EgyptAir Chairman Mohamed Fahim Rayyan insisted during a press conference at Cairo Airport on Sunday that the company "owns the most up-to-date types of aircraft, and they conform to all accepted safety standards"."It's very strange," he repeated on several occasions, that "the plane fell in the same place as the TWA and Swiss Air planes."
The following day, Monday, EgyptAir Vice-President Mohamed Shahin convened a second press conference in which he stressed that flight 990 was checked in New York and Los Angeles and then in New York again.
"It would have never departed unless it was checked. The plane was flying in American airspace for 16 hours and there seemed to be nothing wrong." If there was a technical error, it "would be the responsibility of the security companies and technicians in the US." EgyptAir has set up a commission to work out procedures for paying compensation. Each family will receive a preliminary $20,000 on presenting documents proving their relationship to the victims. Under the terms of an agreement between EgyptAir and the US Federal Aviation Administration, each family should receive a total of $100,000. The remainder of the money will be handed over once the final report on the crash has been completed.
