U.S. investigators working with flight data and the cockpit voice recorder believe a crew member took advantage of the captain's absence from the cockpit to initiate a steep dive from which the plane never recovered. EgyptAir Flight 990, traveling to Cairo, crashed on Oct. 31 off the Massachusetts coast less than one hour after taking off from New York, killing all 217 people on board. The National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday said the plane's elevator on the left, or captain's side, was in the nose up position for part of the plane's plunge while the right, or co-pilot's side, was in the nose down position. The Boeing 767's elevator controls are designed so that if sufficient contradictory forces are applied to the two cockpit control columns then the elevators will go in different directions.
Elevators are movable sections of the horizontal tail piece.
Egyptian experts were heading for the United States to review evidence from the cockpit voice recorder and assuage their concerns that U.S. investigators were jumping to conclusions about a religious phrase uttered by someone in the cockpit. I put my faith in God's hands,'' a crew member said before disconnecting the autopilot and sending the plane into a steep dive, according to a translation provided by one U.S. government official. U.S. Islamic scholars cautioned against ascribing too much importance to religious phrases, noting everyday language of many devout Muslims is peppered with such sayings. It could be a plea for help in dealing with an aircraft problem rather than signaling an act of self-destruction, they said. People in Egypt reacted with shock and incredulity to suggestions that a suicidal crew member was to blame.