Report: Disturbing pattern of statements regarding Egyptair crash
Egypt, Local, 11/20/1999

A report by the Wall Street Journal today said that statements attributed to an Egyptair pilot have been retracted by US officials. The so-called statements have been leaked and have been used to hint at potential criminal act (suicide) by the pilot.

The Wall Street Journal report said "Senior Justice Department officials insisted for two days that the cockpit voice recorder picked up the sound of a crew member saying in Arabic, 'I have made my decision now. I put my faith in God's hands.' But now, after further review of the tape, officials believe the first sentence was never uttered."

The Wall Street Journal report said "the retraction raises questions about the EgyptAir inquiry, which is being handled by the National Transportation Safety Board, with heavy involvement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Early this week, FBI officials cited the full quotation as part of the justification for making the inquiry a criminal investigation."

It is not clear what the implications of this discrepancy in official statements that were published for a period of time before official denial of their accuracy. It is also not clear what the relationship of the FBI and the Justice department's role are in promoting or denying these statements, and if there are additional concerns regarding these organizations, individually or collectively. The Wall Street Journal report was not clear on the role of each of these two departments in this issue as to who is doing the leaking and who is doing the retracting, and if this had any relevance in this case.

Meantime, an Egyptian statement said that in statements to US New York Times, Chairman of the State Information Service (SIS) Nabil Osman denied reports alleging that Gamil Al Batouti, co-pilot of the ill-fated EgyptAir flight 990, would have deliberately caused the crash. Mr. Osman expounded that what Batouti had said means that he was facing a real problem or a difficult situation, noting to a cultural misinterpretation in this respect. The newspaper, however, affirmed that US Administration fast retreat from referring investigations to the FBI accentuates the strength of the Egyptian-US relations.

Egypt hopes its experts now in Washington can clarify any confusion. "There is an element of cultural misinterpretation here, and that is why it was important for Egyptian experts to be on the scene," CNN quoted Chairman of Egypt State Information Service (SIS) Nabil Osman as saying.

Previous Stories:
  EgyptAir 990 voice transcription underway   (11/19/1999)
  US NTSB's latest remarks on Flight 990 crash investigation   (11/18/1999)
  EgyptAir investigation direction depends on voice data   (11/16/1999)

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