Aircraft Accident Brief Ntsb/aab-02/01 (Pb2002-910401): Egypt Air Flight 990, Boeing 767-366er, Su-Gap - National Transportation Safety Board Page 118

ADVERTISEMENT

RESPONSE TO DRAFT REPORT OF THE NATIONAL
TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD CONCERNING
THE INVESTIGATION OF THE ACCIDENT INVOLVING
EGYPTAIR FLIGHT 990, A BOEING 767-300ER
SU-GAP, OCTOBER 31, 1999
On April 19, 2001, the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
delivered a draft report regarding the investigation of the accident involving EgyptAir Flight 990,
a Boeing 767ER, on October 31, 1999. Flight 990 was on a scheduled passenger flight from
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to Cairo, Egypt when it crashed into the
Atlantic Ocean approximately 60 miles southwest of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.
The NTSB’s draft report, prepared under a delegation from the Government of Egypt to
the Government of the United States pursuant to the provisions of Annex 13 of the Convention
on International Civil Aviation, reflects a limited and incomplete investigation and a
corresponding inadequate analysis. More importantly, an objective consideration of the evidence
accumulated during the investigation shows that the NTSB, in its draft report, used selected facts
and speculative conclusions to support a predetermined theory, instead of determining what
probable cause, if any, an unbiased evaluation of all of the evidence would support.
In particular, the NTSB’s conclusion that the probable cause of the accident is the
deliberate action of the relief First Officer is not supported by any evidence of intent or motive
that would explain the First Officer’s alleged conduct. Indeed, the NTSB omits any discussion
of motive and intent and of the facts in the record that squarely contradict a theory of deliberate
pilot action. Equally, if not more disturbing, is the NTSB’s total disregard of the relevance of the
unequivocal evidence of either sheared or deformed bellcrank rivets, not only on EgyptAir 990,
but also on other Boeing 767 aircraft. Notably, neither the NTSB nor Boeing is able to explain
the cause of these documented abnormalities. These sheared and deformed rivets are direct
evidence of a potential defect in the airplane’s elevator system and may well indicate either a full
or partial jam of one or more elevator PCA’s. Indeed, the NTSB acknowledges in its draft report
that the internal damage to one of the right elevator PCA’s of Flight 990 exhibited “unusual

ADVERTISEMENT

00 votes

Related Articles

Related forms

Related Categories

Parent category: Legal