News

USIS Washington File

10 December 1999

Text: NTSB Chairman Hall on EgyptAir Flight 990 Crash Investigation

(NTSB and FBI chiefs to visit recovery vessel next week) (1100)

NTSB Chairman Jim Hall and FBI Director Louis Freeh will visit the
"Smit Pioneer" salvage vessel on December 13 in Rhode Island, prior to
beginning salvage operations for the ill-fated EgyptAir 990.

"It is currently planned that once the ship is on station, it will
conduct its salvage operations for about a week before returning to
port. The need for further operations will be evaluated at the time,"
Hall said December 10.

Hall said that working Arabic and English transcripts of the cockpit
voice recorder have been done but may need further refinements before
they are considered complete.

He also said the timing of the CVR has been correlated with events on
the Flight Data Recorder. "While sound spectrum analysis work is
continuing, no sounds have been detected that would be consistent with
mechanical failures or an explosion," he noted.

"As you know, there has been much speculation generated by the
disclosure of purported contents of the CVR. As I've already stated,
by law the transcript cannot be released by us until a certain stage
in our investigation, and we have not yet reached that stage," Hall
said.

For the past several weeks, Boeing aircraft engineers have been
preparing a 767 simulator based upon data provided from EgyptAir 990's
flight control data.

Following is the text of Hall's statement:

(begin text)

National Transportation Safety Board Washington, DC 20594

STATEMENT OF NTSB CHAIRMAN JIM HALL
ON NTSB INVESTIGATION OF THE CRASH OF EGYPTAIR FLIGHT 990
December 10, 1999

The following statement was released this afternoon by National
Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall.

The National Transportation Safety Board's investigation of the crash
of Egyptair flight 990 is continuing on several fronts.

Cockpit Voice Recorder Group

The Cockpit Voice Recorder Group has completed a substantial portion
of its work. The group is led by NTSB officials, and has members
representing EgyptAir, the Egyptian government, the Federal Aviation
Administration, Boeing Commercial Airplane Group and Pratt & Whitney
Engines. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has observer status on
the group.

A working Arabic transcript of the recording is completed, as is a
working English translation. Further refinements are possible before
the transcript is considered complete. Under federal law, transcripts
of pertinent portions of cockpit voice recordings are released at a
Safety Board public hearing on the accident or, if no hearing is held,
when a majority of the factual reports are made public.

The timing of the CVR has been correlated with events on the Flight
Data Recorder. While sound spectrum analysis work is continuing, no
sounds have been detected that would be consistent with mechanical
failures or an explosion.

The 31-1/2 minute tape begins before the aircraft takes off from John
F. Kennedy Airport in New York. Routine air traffic control (ATC)
communications are heard throughout the recording, and at no time did
a member of the flight crew use radio communications to advise ATC of
either an emergency or a mechanical failure or concern.

As you know, there has been much speculation generated by the
disclosure of purported contents of the CVR. As I've already stated,
by law the transcript cannot be released by us until a certain stage
in our investigation, and we have not yet reached that stage. After
careful consideration, I do not believe this transcript can be
characterized or further described without adding to the speculation
or misleading the public about the contents of the recording.
Therefore, I think the public will be better served by waiting for the
release of the transcript in conjunction with other factual reports,
in accordance with Board procedures and current law.

Aircraft Performance Group

The Safety Board's Aircraft Performance Group completed its initial
simulator work this week at a Boeing facility near Seattle. The same
parties on the CVR group are represented on the performance group.

For the last several weeks, Boeing engineers have been preparing the
767 simulator (involving rewriting computer codes) to use the recorded
information from flight 990's FDR to drive the simulation. This
"backdriving" of the 767 Engineering Simulator Cab with recorded FDR
and computed flight control data is used to recreate the instrument
displays and control input mechanism motions that would have occurred
in the cockpit during the accident.

Pilots and other experts are able to follow the accident flight path
and to feel the forces needed to be applied to the control input
mechanisms in the 767 Simulator Cab. However, they are not able to
feel the accelerative forces on their bodies that they would have
experienced while in actual flight. Because simulators do not have the
same mechanical components as the actual airplane, the simulator
cannot move the Captain's and First Officer's control columns
independently. Therefore, work with independent movement of the
elevator controls to assess the split elevator condition was
accomplished in a Boeing 767 on the ground at the Boeing facility.

Results of this group's activities will be included in the Aircraft
Performance Group Factual Report.

Wreckage Recovery

The Smit Pioneer, which the U.S. Navy's Supervisor of Salvage and
Diving has contracted on behalf of the Safety Board to recover human
remains and wreckage from flight 990, is now expected to leave Quonset
Point, Rhode Island on Monday. It was expected to leave late this week
but adverse weather has postponed the beginning of its mission. See
our news advisory of December 6 -- found on our web site at
www.ntsb.gov -- for more information on this ship.

It is currently planned that once the ship is on station, it will
conduct its salvage operations for about a week before returning to
port. The need for further operations will be evaluated at that time.

FBI Director Louis Freeh and I intend to visit the ship while it is
still in port at Quonset Point on Monday, December 13. We will meet
the news media at Pier 2 of the Davisville Depot (at the end of
Davisville Road) at a time to be announced.

Future Updates

We will provide further updates of factual information on our
investigation of the crash of EgyptAir flight 990 as events warrant.
As we enter the holiday season, I ask that you keep the families of
those who lost their lives on flight 990 in your thoughts and prayers.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State.)