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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 Nov. - 1 Dec. 1999 Issue No. 457 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 Nov. - 1 Dec. 1999 Issue No. 457
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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 Charges fly in crash debate
Gamal Essam El-DinA large number of MPs were up in arms on Monday trying to refute American media allegations holding EgyptAir responsible for the 31 October crash of flight 990. Deeply angered by the accusations, some MPs hit back, asserting that the accident was apparently the result of a joint American-Israeli conspiracy. Speaking at an emotion-packed meeting of parliament's Transport and Communications Committee, some legislators expressed suspicions that the plane was downed by an American missile, while others suspected it was sabotaged by the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.
Minister of Transport Ibrahim El-Demeiri, addressing the meeting, urged MPs to exercise self-restraint because "over-reaction in this case is unacceptable and because investigation of the crash is being conducted in a scientific and impartial way". "Investigating the causes of the crash is now the responsibility of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). It is not a criminal investigation but is aimed at seeking the probable cause of the accident. It takes the form of a series of hearing sessions that will end up producing an accurate and well-documented report," El-Demeiri said. He revealed that preparing such a report usually takes a long time, ranging from one to two years. Right now, he added, 12 Egyptian teams are collaborating with the NTSB to examine all the technical factors that could be behind the accident.
According to El-Demeiri, pressure was building up for some time to change the course of the investigation to show that the crash was EgyptAir's fault. "We, however, moved quickly to provide the American side with the documents necessary to prove that this course is wrong. The president of the republic has also supported us by calling President Clinton to recommend that the investigation should not be taken over by the FBI (the Federal Bureau of Investigation)," El-Demeiri said. Asked about the source of the pressure, El-Demeiri said that "Boeing, as you all know, is quite willing to defend itself but this should not be at our expense. We are capable of defending our rights."
In technical terms, Mohamed Fahim El-Rayyan, chairman of EgyptAir, delivered a long statement in which he affirmed that the airline strictly conforms to all accepted international safety and maintenance standards. He described the tests which EgyptAir's pilots should pass in order to be fully eligible for flying.
Moving to the accident itself, El-Rayyan said the crashed plane had flown for 33,000 hours since it came into service in 1984, received maintenance at the hands of an experienced team and was operated by a well-trained crew. "EgyptAir has made 2,527 flights to the United States and crossed the Atlantic more than 5,000 times over the last 25 years," he said. "For more than 25 years, only one accident involving EgyptAir occurred, and 22 passengers were killed. We belong to Category One in terms of air traffic safety. This was certified in March 1999 by inspection teams from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the American Federal Aviation Agency (FAA)."
El-Rayyan hinted that the American air traffic control system at Kennedy airport might be partially responsible for the accident. "The plane was not flying in Bangladesh. It was flying in a place using the most developed systems of air traffic control," El-Rayyan said.
Ignoring the technical aspects, MPs appeared determined to underline the rage of Egyptian public opinion over the "biased" coverage by the US press and media. Many said that a surface-to-air missile launched from a US naval base was most probably responsible for the crash. Others touted the conspiracy theory that the Israeli intelligence agency, the Mossad, apparently was responsible because the flight, they said, carried 33 Egyptian army officers, an atomic energy scientist and 12 oil experts.
Mohamed Marzouq, an Islamist-oriented independent deputy for Beheira governorate, asked why such a large number of army officers was allowed to take the same flight. Marzouq and Amin Hammad, a deputy for the ruling National Democratic Party in Tanta city, theorised that the EgyptAir plane was deliberately obliged by Kennedy airport traffic control to take an air route that is different from the usual course. Hammad asserted that this traffic control is operated by Jews, who deliberately pushed the plane to take a different course. "When this happened, it became the automatic target of a surface-to-air missile which brought it down," said Hammad.
Commenting on this theory, Youssri Hamed, EgyptAir's oldest pilot, said that planes crossing the Atlantic ocean usually take one of seven air routes. "But in all cases, we should strictly follow the instructions of air traffic control," Hamed said. He, however, accused the American press and media of fabricating stories, alleging that the plane was deliberately crashed by co-pilot Gamil El-Batouti because he wanted to commit suicide. Hamed argued that "committing suicide on the plane is illogical on technical grounds". "You should know that the design of this kind of plane does not allow any person to commit suicide in this alleged way. The chance for committing suicide is bigger during take-off and landing, but El-Batouti did not resort to this. Moreover, the cockpit voice recorder showed that a crew-member shouted 'pull with me'. These words do not show at all that someone is going to commit suicide," Hamed said.
Underlining the conspiracy theory again, El-Badri Farghali, a leftist MP for Port Said city, and Omar Barakat, a deputy for the Wafd party, agreed that "a Zionist-American plot" was behind the accident. Barakat alleged that "an Egyptian atomic energy scientist was on board. This scientist had refused to be Americanised". Farghali blamed the Egyptian government for alleged brazen reluctance to confront American attempts to defame EgyptAir and refute the "lies" about the accident. "It is the Egyptian public opinion that rose to tear these lies to shreds," Farghali said.
