Questions About Crew
In EgyptAir Crash Probe



FOX NEWS

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.

Photo
Enric Marti/AP
A portrait of EgyptAir's co-pilot Gamil al-Batouti can be seen in his family's house in Cairo

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.

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."

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.

Focus Turns to Crew

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.

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.

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.

The New York Times 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.

Investigators suggested the pilot, Capt. Ahmed Mahmoud al-Habashi, returned to the cockpit and struggled to regain control of the jet, the Times reported, citing unidentified government officials.

Photo
Reuters
EgyptAir says Anwar was in good physical and mental condition, passing checkups in the past five months

The jet's two engines were effectively shut down during the dive, according to the cockpit data recorder. Sources also told the Times 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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

Egyptian Officials to Help With Investigation

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.

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.

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.

Over the weekend, EgyptAir insisted that al-Habashi and Anwar were in good physical and mental condition, passing checkups in the past five months.

Photo
AP
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

"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."

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.

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.

His 10-year-old daughter, Aya, suffers from the immune disorder lupus erythematosis, and had been treated in the United States.

"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."

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

The Al-Ahram 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.

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.

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

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

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

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."

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

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."

— AP, Reuters and the New York Post contributed to this report

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