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''', Flight 990 dove into the Atlantic Ocean , about 60 miles south of Nantucket Island , Massachusetts . Radar and radio contact with the Boeing 767-366ER aircraft (Registration number: SU-GAP ) was lost 30 minutes after the aircraft departed JFK Airport in New York on a flight to Cairo. The flight departed from its flight level and dove to 16,000 feet, then climbed again to 24,000 then continued and impacted into the Atlantic Ocean within the span of 36 seconds. The flight was carrying 14 crew members (4 flight crewmembers composed of a command and relief flight crew each containing a captain and first officer, plus 10 flight attendants) and 203 passengers from seven different countries (Canada, Egypt, Germany, Sudan, Syria, United States, and Zimbabwe). Included in the passenger manifest were high ranking Egyptian military officers. Flight data showed that the flight controls were used to move the elevators so as to initiate and sustain the steep dive. Forces on the captain's and first officer's control columns were recorded and completely consistent with the recorded Elevator deflections and a stuggle for control of the aircraft. There were no other aircraft in the area. There was no indication that an explosion occurred on board. The engines operated normally for the entire flight. An investigation by the NTSB determined that the relief first officer, Gameel Al-Batouti , at the controls while the captain was out of the cabin, turned off the autopilot, and deliberately crashed the plane into the ocean, while calmly reciting "Tawakalt ala Allah" ("I rely on Allah") and counteracting the captain's efforts to recover from the dive. His motivation for these actions can only be guessed and are not addressed, but suicide or homicidal intentions towards some of the passengers or crew are possibilities in light of the NTSB analysis. The investigation and its results drew criticism from the Government of Egypt which advanced several alternate theories about mechanical malfunction of the aircraft. In Western countries, the Egyptian rejection of the NTSB report was attributed to a strong Egyptian cultural aversion to Suicide . The theories proposed by Egyptian authorities were tested by the NTSB, and none were found to match the facts. For example, an elevator assembly hardover (in which the elevator in a fully extended position sticks because the hinge catches on the tail frame) proposed by the Egyptians was discounted, as a flight simulator failed to replicate the scenario. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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