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Talaat Abelmoneim (C) cries during
memorial service for passengers of
EgyptAir flight 990 31 October 1999,
at the Islamic Center of Long Island in
Westbury, New York. Abelmoneim
lost his parents on the flight that
crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off
Nantucket, Massachusetts. Tariq El
Zanaty (R) also lost his parents on the
flight.
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More than 200 people are feared to be dead when an Egyptian airline carrying aboard 217 people plummeted to the Earth shortly after taking off from New York John Kennedy Airport.
According to aviation and Coast Guard officials in
an area some 70 kilometers (45 miles) southeast of Nantucket, they say wreckage and
several bodies from the EgyptAir Boeing 767 had been located in the Atlantic south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, EgyptAir flight 990 carrying 217 people -- 199 passengers and 15 crew, according to officials here -- took off from JFK airport around 1:20 a.m. (0620 GMT).
The jumbo-sized airplane vanished some 40 minutes later, officials said.
According to a Fox News agency that was citing a report from the Federal Aviation Administration, officials claim the plane may have exploded in mid-air. MSNBC cited aviation officials as saying the aircraft went into a tailspin from 8,500 meters (28,000 feet).
Three years ago, TWA flight 800 blew up in mid-air, also shortly after takeoff from JFK airport, killing all 230 passengers aboard.
United States officials in Egypt said emphatically that they had no indication of terrorist involvement in the latest disaster.
At the airport where the plane was set to land, Egyptian Transport Minister Ibrahim al-Dumeiri told reporters that, "The Egyptian government totally rules out any possibility of the accident being the result of a terrorist act or an abortive hijack attempt."
In New York, many anti-terrorism task forces were set up to investigate the disaster, including New York City police, the FBI and the State Department. In a news conference, New York Port Authority police inspector Anthony Infante said that officials found no immediate signs of criminal activity.
The FBI is seeking several people that who disembarked from the plane before its departure from New York.
One report said only one person disembarked from the plane after the domestic leg of the flight from Los Angeles to New York on Saturday.
Claiming that they only have "vague" numbers the FBI in New York said they were going to be relentless in finding everyone that had anything to do with the flight but was unwilling to discuss anything publicly.
In the meantime, a massive search for survivors had been launched in the waters off Nantucket, part of the state of Massachusetts. Rescue team members said the conditions for the search were perfect and the only thing in their way was time.
Several bodies have already been located floating among aircraft seats, seat cushions, life rafts and other small bits of wreckage.
When asked how many bodies were found, Robert Kelly, aviation director Port Authority of New York/New Jersey said "Some bodies" and went on to say that it was "more than one, but a number (has) not yet (been) confirmed by the Coast Guard."
Boeing international said the plane was a 767-300ER and it was delivered to EgyptAir in September 1989. It had completed 30,000 flight hours in the course of 6,900 flights.
Officials say that the plane went down when it was flying around 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) when it disappeared from radar screens. EgyptAir and the FAA said that there was no distress calls received before it vanished.
Officials also deny reports that the aircraft had been forced to make an emergency landing on its way to New York from Los Angeles.
The plane came to the United States this weekend on Saturday from Cairo. It was suppose to land at JFK but could not and was forced to land in Newark because of bad whether conditions. From there it continued on to Los Angeles and made an uninterrupted return leg to JFK.
The FAA commented that alleged reports that it had landed in California's Edwards Air Force base were wrong.
From the White House in Washington, President Bill Clinton said he had been informed early Sunday of the disappearance of the plane.
One senior White House official said "The president has been notified and he expressed concern and asked US agencies to cooperate in the investigation with the Egyptians. "I don't think anyone should be making assumptions about what happened."
Regarding the conditions at the time the plane went down, the US weather service said that the conditions were fine and good in Nantucket. They also said that the visibility at JFK airport around midnight had been reduced to roughly 800 meters (yards) because of thick fog.
In Egypt, relatives who had waited hours for news of their loved ones ran screaming through the airport Sunday after EgyptAir staff finally confirmed the passenger list of the lost airliner.
After hearing the tragic news, many relatives ran airport streets crying and yelling. Many relatives also blamed officials of EgyptAir for letting this happen.
Boeing spokeswoman Barbara Murphy said, "Sometimes these investigations can be lengthy, but we are committed to supporting that effort throughout."
The disappearance of the EgyptAir plane comes just three years after TWA flight 800 -- a Boeing 747 -- exploded in mid-air off the east coast.
About a year ago another airplane that left from JFK struck disaster when Swissair Flight 111 plunged into the Atlantic off the Canadian coast after takeoff from New York killing 229 people.
