A year ago, Ralph Erlandson told The New Era that he believed the co-pilot caused the crash of Egypt Air Flight 990 that took the lives of 217 including his daughter and son-in-law on October 31, 1999.
Last week, a report by the National Transportation Safety Board supported Erlandson’s theory. For the 88-year-old Erlandson, the report will help bring some closure to the tragic event that claimed his daughter Dorene and son-in-law Dale Beck.
Dorene was a popular school teacher and her husband was a well-known local truck owner.
They were high school sweet hearts.
The Becks enjoyed life and were taking an adventurous trip to Egypt and were looking forward to a boat trip up the Nile River.
The NTSB report indicates the co pilot Gameel El-Batouty, cut power to the engines, driving the plane into the ocean shortly after taking off from New York’s Kennedy Airport. The flight had originated in Los Angeles.
The report noted there was no plane malfunction and that El-Batouty calmly repeated the words, “I rely on God,” for more than a minute.
El-Batouty reportedly took control of the plane soon after takeoff enroute to Cairo, Egypt. Because it is a scheduled 10 hour flight, regulations require a two designated flight crews on board the aircraft.
During the crisis stage of the flight, the pilot, Mahmoud el-Habashy, reportedly attempted to save the plane, and repeatedly asked El-Batouty to “Pull with me!”
The NTSB noted that the left elevators of the plane were in a nose up position and the right surface were in a nose-down position.
The airplane reportedly exceeded its maximum operating airspeed of 0.86 mach and at one point was descending about 27,300 feet msl.
The plane’s captain was 57 years old and had blown for EgyptAir since 1963. He had flown some 14,384 hours, of which 6,356 were in a Boeing 767.
The relief first officer was 59 years old and had flown 12,538 flight hours, of those, 5,191 were in a Boeing 767.
Before joining EgyptAir, El-Batouty had been a flight instructor with the Egyptian Air Force and for a government-operated flight training institute in Egypt.
The Boeing 767 was delivered new to EgyptAir on September 26, 1989. It had 33,354 hours and was configured to carry a maximum of 10 in first-class, 22 in business-class and 185 in economy-class.
Erlandson said his family has recovered the ashes of his daughter and son-in-law and will bury them soon at a private ceremony at the Liberty Cemetery.
“We plan to do it when the headstones are ready,” Erlandson said.
Erlandson said the report may now prompt EgyptAir officials to take responsibility for the crash. He said more than 80 of the couples on board the flight were from California.