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Egypt: Final Report For EgyptAir Flight 990 crash Rejected If Not Balanced
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| Egyptian
pilots will not accept report saying Al Batouti committed
suicide
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CAIRO, March 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Egyptian authorities refused to acknowledge news reports, which spoke about the final report for the EgyptAir Flight 990 crash, which throws the blame on co-pilot Jamil Al Batouti.
The Los Angeles Times said Friday, March 15, quoting U.S. unidentified sources, that the final report on the plane which crashed a couple of years ago off the Massachusetts coast, will be published in a few days. It will conclude that Al Batouti deliberately crashed the plane, and that mechanical reasons were not behind the crash.
Egyptian authorities said that they will refuse this report if that were its conclusions. Hamdy Al Tahan, the head of the transportation committee in the People's Assembly told IslamOnline that if the final report is not balanced or does not include all possibilities, then it will be rejected by Egypt.
He added that Egypt has in the past rejected the American claims that it was a suicide by Al Batouti and has insisted on investigating all other possibilities. Al Tahan said that it is well known that it is difficult to know the reasons behind 95 per cent of air crashes if there is no clear evidence on malfunctioning.
Al Tahan said that all possibilities were pointing towards the responsibility of the U.S. whether it is a problem with the plane's engine, or if it was a breach of U.S. security or if the pilot was given the wrong instructions, since pilots always operate within the instructions given to them by the air control units and do not determine their route themselves.
When the crash happened, it was still in the American airspace, this makes it entirely their responsibility.
He added that if the U.S. were to admit that it was due to a problem in the plane's engines, and the plane being American made, it would challenge one of the largest companies involved in manufacturing planes. That would also mean massive financial losses or the cancellation of deals worth millions.
This is why, Al Tahan said, the U.S. has been trying to pin the blame on the co-pilot even though 'suicide' is not permissible among Muslims or Arabs. From the beginning these have been accusations that have provoked the Egyptian public opinion, he added.
Al Tahan admitted that the Egyptian authorities have committed an unintentional mistake by asking the U.S. authorities to remove the wreckage of the plane from the ocean and to investigate. He added that the reason was because the crash happened in the U.S. waters and that the U.S. owns state-of-the-art recovering equipment which is not available in Egypt.
In addition, the shock of the crash forced the Egyptian officials to hasten in the process of recovering as many bodies as possible and to immediately start in collecting information and also uncoding the black box in co-ordination between Egyptian and U.S. teams. The Egyptians however, Al Tahan said, did not expect that the situation would reach an attempt to direct the flow of investigation.
Al Tahan said that the possibility of a political deal occurring between the U.S. and Egypt is unlikely to solve the situation. He added that the matter relates to specific steps being taken regarding the investigation and that Egypt is not being asked for any compromise.
EgyptAir, he said, has an insurance system against such accidents, in comparison to the American position, which will be in a negative light if the reasons of the crash are due to a mechanical failure or a failure in the air surveillance equipment.
Egypt's loss, he said was in the victims of the crash as well as the large amounts of money which were spent by the government to recover the wreckage from the bottom of the ocean and on the investigation.
With regards to the final scenario on the crash, Al Tahan said that if a final report was published that does not satisfy the Egyptian Committee involved in the investigation, then the matter will end in each party announcing their stance. He added that the final conclusion will be Egypt's responsibility, because it is the plane owner and the main party in the entire case. The U.S. can say whatever it wants on the crash, but the final word will be for the Egyptian government, he added.
Dr. Khairi Al Husseini, the former secretary for the International Association For Civil Aviation (IACA) said that the Egyptian side made a mistake from the start when it allowed the opponent to have access to all papers of the case. Especially since international law gives Egypt the right, as the owner of the plane, to investigate and collect evidence and the right to bring in international parties in the process.
He added that Egypt could have sought the help of the IACA but the Americans due to their experience, realized the dangers of finding out the real causes of the crash, took the opportunity. They started turning around all evidence collected to direct the investigation in a way that serves their purpose, added Al Husseini.
Al Husseini added that a similar accident took place in 1983 where a Korean plane was trying to take pictures of a military area in the USSR. The Russians at the time, fired missiles at the plane, killing all on board and the USSR government tried to play the same role the U.S. is playing with the Egyptian plane, and submitted evidence that the plane crashed due to technical errors. However, the Korean government asked the IACA to intervene and to handle the investigation, which revealed all the facts.
He added that during the investigations of the plane, he had submitted a request to Dr. Ibrahim al Dumeiri, the former Egyptian Minister of Transportation, who resigned recently. He requested that the IACA intervenes in the investigation process like it did with the Korean plane, but Al Dumeiri disregarded his request.
Al Husseini added that international experts following the case of the Egyptian plane, expected that the Americans would manipulate all evidence in their possession and that they would not be objective because that would mean that they would blame themselves.
He said that the Americans are completely aware of the implications of carrying the responsibility of the crash because this would mean financial losses. In addition they would not easily admit that a missile hit the plane, or that a time bomb exploded inside the plane because this would be shameful and have a negative affect on their image.
He added that the Americans had to focus on the crew's mistakes because they know that the plane could be operated without any human intervention and the 'suicide' trick was the most suitable for the situation.
He suspects that after Egyptian pressure, the U.S. would back out on its suicide idea, and the investigations would probably end without reaching any reason for the crash.
Captain Ashraf Al Hawari, the vice president of the Egyptian Pilots' Association said that the issue will not end with an agreement between Egypt and the U.S., and that Egyptian pilots will not remain silent about the Americans' accusing Al Batouti of suicide because this has not been proven by any evidence. This accusation reflects negatively on all Egyptian pilots, he said.
Al Hawari added that the Egyptian pilots are ready to sue the officials working in the American Aviation Association in international courts and that the IACA will support their position in defending Al Batouti. The American accusations aim to eliminate all other possibilities and to close the door of investigation on all evidence. One piece of evidence, is a Jordanian pilot who was flying in the area at the time of the crash and said that he witnessed a flying ball of fire stuck to the plane's body after which it blew up and finally started to fall.
Al Hawari said that the United States itself admits that Egyptian pilots are some of the best pilots in the world. Al Batouti being suspected of suicide is a shock for all Egyptian pilots and that would only end when the truth is uncovered.
It is worth noting that Egypt Air and Egyptian investigators refuse to acknowledge the idea that a crew member caused the crash which was heading from New York to Cairo and they insist that a mechanical failure, especially in the control system, was behind the crash of the Boeing 767 plane.
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