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The Lesson of EgyptAir 990

(Washington Times) Arnold Beichman - Picture a Palestinian state with its own airport located a short flying distance from the center of densely populated Tel Aviv. Then recall the story of EgyptAir Flight 900. On Oct. 31, 1999, EgyptAir Flight 900 went down in the Atlantic Ocean with 217 people aboard -- 100 Americans, 89 Egyptians (including 33 army officers), 22 Canadians, and others. The crash was not caused, as Egypt claimed, by any mechanical failure but by the intentional act of a pilot. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the crash had been caused by EgyptAir pilot Gameel al-Batouti who, while alone in the cockpit, disengaged the autopilot, cut the engines, and dove the giant plane into the ocean, all the while muttering an Islamic prayer, as recorded by the recovered flight tape recorder.
2002-07-11 00:00:00
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