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DATE=11/16/1999 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=EGYPT AIR INVESTIGATION UPDATE (L) NUMBER=2-256253 BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: Differences have emerged between the United States and Egypt over the course of the investigation into the crash of Egypt Air flight 990. On Tuesday, the White House said it expected the inquiry to be turned over to the FBI, which was set to look into the possibility that a criminal act caused the plane to crash while flying from New York to Cairo, killing all 217 people on board. But Correspondent Nick Simeone reports, that is being delayed while Egypt sends more experts to Washington to help interpret puzzling comments made by a pilot on the cockpit voice recorder. TEXT: Clinton Administration officials said they expected the FBI to take the lead in the case after it emerged that a member of the plane's crew could be heard uttering something apparently religious, perhaps a Muslim prayer in Arabic, just before the plane crashed. But National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall told reporters late Tuesday Egyptian officials want to further analyze the voice recorder before any decision is made to launch an investigation into possible sabotage. // HALL ACT // There are still some differences in some of the cultural interpretations of the Arabic language that is spoken on the cockpit voice recorder. We are working to determine exactly the meaning of the words that are spoken. // END ACT // If what was heard on the tape was in fact a prayer, investigators will no doubt want to know if these were the last words of a pilot determined to take the plane down in an act of sabotage. If the case is handed over to the FBI, aviation expert Michael Hynes expects a thorough look into the background of the pilot or copilot. // HYNES ACT // Did he have a family problem? Did he have a financial problem? Why would he have done this? People don't commit suicide in any manner without some type of motivation. // END ACT // Egypt Air dismisses suggestions of a suicide attempt by one of the pilots, with an airline spokesman saying the crew was both mentally and physically fit. More than two weeks after the crash, investigators still have no evidence that the plane was brought down by mechanical failure. Efforts are now underway to start bringing wreckage of the Boeing 767 up from the floor of the Atlantic for a painstaking search for clues that may lie buried with the plane and its passengers. (SIGNED) NEB/NJS/PT 16-Nov-1999 20:09 PM EDT (17-Nov-1999 0109 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .