EgyptAir 990

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CNN News:
217 feared dead in EgyptAir crash
Clinton: 'No evidence of foul play'

October 31, 1999
Web posted at: 3:12 p.m. EST (2012 GMT)

NANTUCKET, Massachusetts (CNN) -- An EgyptAir plane with 217 people on board crashed at sea early Sunday off the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, en route from New York to Cairo, Egypt. The U.S. Coast Guard recovered several bodies from the water.

Distraught family and friends of the passengers and crew of EgyptAir Flight 990 gathered at the airport in Cairo, anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones.

The Boeing 767 passenger plane disappeared from radar screens after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. All of the people on board are feared dead.

President Clinton said Sunday there was "no evidence ... at this time" of foul play in the EgyptAir crash. "We have no evidence of that at this time. And I think it's better if people draw no conclusions," Clinton said.

The Coast Guard is conducting a massive search of the area where the Federal Aviation Administration lost contact with the airliner. The plane disappeared about 2 a.m. EST, about 65 miles (100 km) southeast of Nantucket.

"The Coast Guard has in fact reported that they have recovered some bodies, more than one. The exact number is unknown at this point in time," said Robert Kelly, aviation director of the New York and New Jersey Port Authority.

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Richard Larrabee said that clothing, passports, life rafts, airplane seats and lifejackets were among debris found near the crash site. The plane was apparently carrying 199 passengers and 18 airline employees, according to EgyptAir officials.

EgyptAir head Mohammed Fahim Rayan said at a news conference in Cairo that 62 Egyptians, two Sudanese, three Syrians, and one Chilean were aboard the plane as passengers. There was no record of the nationality of the other 131 passengers, and Rayan said he believed some of those were U.S. citizens.

The U.S. State Department said "there is reason to believe that a large number of American citizens were on board."

New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said at a news conference that there were at least two tour groups on the plane and that there were Americans from "all over the United States" on board.

JFK airport officials are setting aside hotel rooms for relatives of the passengers. "Our major priority right now is family members," said Kelly. Kelly said chaplains are available and Muslim clerics are being brought in to comfort relatives as they wait for news of the crash.

The plane departed New York at 1:19 a.m. EST. The plane was flying at 33,000 feet (9,900 meters), said Eliot Brenner, chief spokesman for the FAA in Washington.

There was no indication of a distress call, U.S. officials said. But airport officials in Cairo said the last communication from the plane's crew was an SOS sent after the takeoff from New York.

The FAA contacted the Coast Guard about 2:15 a.m. EST, said Coast Guard Lt. Gary Jones.

"We're doing a very, very aggressive airborne search at this moment. Basically, if there is someone out there to be saved, saving lives at sea is our most important mission and we're doing that," Jones said.

As is standard operating procedure for a missing commericial airliner, the FBI New York Field Office has begun working with FAA officials.

FBI agents are at JFK airport, along with members of the Joint Terrorist Task Force, where they have launched an investigation into the flight. FBI spokesman Joe Valiquette told CNN that "agents are going over the flight manifest, identifying everyone who touched the plane, including those who serviced and gassed the aircraft."

Valiquette cautioned that there is "no reason to assume this is a terrorist act."

An FAA spokesman said the plane departed two hours and 20 minutes late from JFK because it was late coming in from Los Angeles.

The National Weather Service said that at about the time the plane took off from JFK there was dense fog in the New York area, but the fog may not have played a role in the plane's disappearance.

"The fog definitely would not have been a factor, you just don't care whether there's fog or not in a plane as advanced as a 767," retired airline Capt. Art Cornelius told CNN.

The airline identified the pilot as Hakim Rushdi, who had more than 10,000 hours of flight experience. Colleagues described him as a "very experienced pilot." The airline said he had been in contact with his son, also an EgyptAir pilot, hours before leaving.

The airliner is a 10-year-old 767-300ER, an extended-range plane known for its North Atlantic service, said Boeing spokeswoman Barbara Murphy.

"It's an airplane that has enjoyed a wonderful safety record," she said.

EgyptAir has a fleet of 38 planes and flies to some 85 airports around the world.

The National Transportation Safety Board has begun an investigation, an NTSB spokesman said, and the New York Port Authority has set up a mobile command center.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.