(17 Nov 1999) Arabic/Eng/Nat
Egyptian airline officials have tentatively identified the person in the co-pilot's seat at the time of the crash of EgyptAir Flight nine-90 as Captain Gameel El Batouty.
According to U-S federal officials, a crew member in the cockpit of the doomed plane said "I made my decision now" just before the jet's autopilot was turned off.
Investigators say that although there was no sign of any technical malfunction, it's too early to say whether the crew played any role in the October 31 crash.
But in Egypt, relatives of El Batouty have angrily denied that the captain was responsible for the crash by committing suicide, describing him as a loving father of five.
In Egypt, newspapers on Wednesday carried frontpage reports about claims that relief
co-pilot Gameel El Batouty might have been in the co-pilot's seat at the time of the crash.
They quoted reports suggesting that Batouty repeated an Arabic phrase that can mean "I entrust myself to God" at about the same time the jet's autopilot was turned off.
The plane began a steep plunge just after that, regaining some altitude before dropping into the sea.
According to the New York Times, which cited unidentified government officials, the pilot returned to the cockpit and struggled to regain control of the jet.
Batouty was married for 27 years - he and his wife Omayma Dahi had five children, four of whom are now adults.
The 59-year-old pilot was to have retired in March.
Coming to term with their loss has been made more difficult for Batouty's grieving family who vehemently reject the latest reports.
In an exclusive interview with APTN, they deny the pilot planned to commit suicide and pointed out that he had no life insurance.
SOUNDBITE: (Arabic)
"When my father died, we considered him as immortal, but even now they want to take this away from us."
SUPER CAPTION: Karim El Batouty, son of co-pilot Gameel El Batouty
A day before the crash, Batouty sent his family money to pay a phone bill.
His son Mohamed said his father was one of the best in the world, who didn't leave his family in any financial need.
SOUNDBITE: (Arabic)
"My father bought some tyres for my car and I was suppose to wait for him at the airport to pick up the tyres"
SUPER CAPTION: Mohamed, second son of co-pilot Gameel El Batouty
Before joining EgyptAir in 1987, Batouty, over the course of his more than 35-year career, trained other pilots at both the Civil Aviation Authority and Egypt's air force.
He amassed 14-thousand and 300 flight hours, five-thousand and 64 of which were on the Boeing 7-6-7.
And his family accuse those in charge of the investigation into the crash of wrongly blaming Batouty.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We're not going to accept this. If they want to slander my uncle we'll never accept this and we're going to come back after them. I have a question: the TWA plane took off at J-F-K and the same plane had an accident, it was Boeing 7-6-7 - the Swiss plane - it was the same thing. And EgyptAir, why they try to divert now and say it was the captain? Why? They're trying to cover up for something. It's there. We need an answer. The media's asking us and accusing us with this nonsense. If this man wanted to commit suicide he would have gone and had insurance policy for two, three (M) million dollars and gone and paid the first payment and had this for his kids."
SUPER CAPTION: Walid El Batouty, Nephew of Gameel El Batouty
Friends and neighbours alike refuse to believe any suggestion that Batouty could bring down the EgyptAir plane.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
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