Latest on EgyptAir crash
Egypt, Local, 11/1/1999

Rear Admiral Richard Larrabee of the US Coast Guard said today that the effort to search for the debris of EgyptAir flight 990, which was lost yesterday off the US coast has officially been changed from a "search-and rescue" operation to a "search-and-recover" operation. He advised, "We no longer expect to find survivors" from the 217 persons on board the flight.

He also said that the resources searching the debris field had reached the saturation point, creating a near-100% chance of recovery.

The change in designation reflects the dimmed possibility of any survivors being found, in light of the time that has passed since the crash. Larrabee said that the ocean temperature was about 58 degrees Fahrenheit and that life expectancy in waters of that temperature was only five to six hours.

He said, "We now have a ping signal," and the searchers are now trying to find the airplane's "black box," which may contain key technical data from the last moments of the plane's flight that may shed light on the cause of the crash.

He also said that recovery efforts had found one large piece of debris floating, which would have to be brought in with a crane, adding, "We know the extent of the damage"

The threat of bad weather moving into the area within one day means that the operation must collect as much debris floating on the surface as possible before the inclement weather hits.

US President Bill Clinton said earlier today, "Nothing has been ruled in or ruled out" about the cause of the crash. He advised people not to speculate on the cause of the crash until more data is available.

The Boeing company said in a statement yesterday that the jet, a Boeing 676, was "delivered to EgyptAir in September 1989. It had compiled a service record of more than 30,000 flight hours over the course of more than 6,900 flights."

The families of Egyptian passengers who were on the flight are being flown from the US state of New York, the flights last stop, to be closer to the recovery operation.

Although the crash occurred in international waters, the Egyptian authorities asked the United States to investigate into the crash.

The plane had apparently been operating normally, when radar suddenly observed a rapid descent, the US National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said yesterday.

Previous Stories:
  Egypt passenger plane disappears on its way from the US to Cairo   (10/31/1999)
  Hijacked airplane returns to Cairo   (10/20/1999)
  Egyptian jet hijacked   (10/19/1999)

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