Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atlantic Ocean
Sunday, October 31, 1999 1:52 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm.
On October 31, 1999, about 0152 eastern standard time, EgyptAir flight 990, a Boeing 767-366ER, SU-GAP, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about 60 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts. EgyptAir flight 990 was being operated under the provisions of Egyptian Civil Aviation Regulations Part 121 and U.S. 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 129 as a scheduled, international flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York, New York, to Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt. The flight departed JFK about 0120, with 4 flight crewmembers, 10 flight attendants, and 203 passengers on board. All 217 people on board were killed, and the airplane was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the EgyptAir flight 990 accident is the airplane's departure from normal cruise flight and subsequent impact with the Atlantic Ocean as a result of the relief first officer's flight control inputs. The reason for the relief first officer's actions was not determined.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/31/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 152 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | ATLANTIC OCEAN |
| Event State | ATLANTIC OCEAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 153 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NAN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 120 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.39 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 217 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 217 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11450 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 31 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 25 2002 9:21AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | SUGAP |
| NTSB Number | DCA00MA006 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 129: Foreign |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 767-366-ER |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 767-366-ER |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24542 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Foreign Reg./Foreign Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 217 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 4 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 214 |
| Airframe Hours | 33354 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EGYPTAIR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cairo |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | EG |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | EGYF |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | JFK |
| Departure City | NEW YORK |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 120 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HECA |
| Destination City | CAIRO |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | EG |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 22 2002 2:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | HAUT |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |