NEWPORT, R.I. -- A crew member in the cockpit of EgyptAir Flight 990 said "I made my decision now" just before the jet's autopilot was turned off and it began its fatal plunge, a federal law enforcement official said Wednesday.
The focus of the crash investigation has shifted to the backup co-pilot amid indications that he was at the controls just before the plane began its fall into the Atlantic.Although there was no sign of any technical malfunction, it is too early to say the crew played any role in the Oct. 31 crash that killed 217 people, investigators said.
The federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday that the Arabic words uttered by the crew member in the co-pilot seat have been translated to: "I made my decision now. I put my faith in God's hands."
The official said the crew member, whom he would not name, was believed to be alone in the cockpit at the time and spoke just before the jet's autopilot was turned off.
Earlier, another source close to the investigation said Egyptian airline officials assisting U.S. crash investigators said Capt. Gameel el-Batouty had been tentatively identified as occupying the co-pilot's seat and uttering a prayer just before the autopilot was disengaged. El-Batouty, a 59-year-old relief co-pilot, faced retirement from the state-owned airline early next year.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the identification came after the airline officials listened to the cockpit voice recorder, one of two "black boxes" recovered from the crash site 60 miles off Nantucket Island.
In Egypt, relatives angrily denied that el-Batouty had sent money home because he planned to commit suicide, describing him as a loving father of five.
Egypt also sent its senior aviation official to Washington to take part in the crash investigation after questioning the need to turn over the probe to the FBI. Such a move is seen as a step toward saying the disaster was the result of a criminal act.
El-Batouty was scheduled to take over much later in the 11-hour New York-to-Cairo flight from co-pilot Adel Anwar. Another source close to the investigation said Tuesday the tape showed el-Batouty came to the cockpit, "said he wanted to fly" and his request was accepted.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that el-Batouty, left alone in the cockpit, repeated an Arabic phrase that can mean "I entrust myself to God." Moments later, the jet's autopilot was turned off, investigators said.
The plane began a steep plunge from 33,000 feet just after that, regaining some altitude before dropping into the sea.
Investigators suggested the pilot, Capt. Ahmed Mahmoud el-Habashy, returned to the cockpit and struggled to regain control of the jet, the Times reported, citing unidentified government officials.
The jet's two engines were effectively shut down during the dive, according to the cockpit data recorder. Sources also said the unusual split in the plane's elevators -- flaps on the tail that bend down or up to raise or lift the plane's nose -- may have been caused as one pilot tried to lift the plane out of a dive and another forced the controls down.
At a news conference Tuesday in Washington, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman James Hall said no sign of mechanical malfunction has been identified in the crash of the Boeing 767.
But at Egypt's request he stopped short of turning the investigation over to the FBI to allow additional Egyptian experts more time to analyze the last recorded words of the pilots so they might contribute more understanding to what was said.
"As long as there are differences in the interpretation -- and there are significant differences in the cultural interpretations of some expressions on the recorder -- I think it is unfair . . . for us to characterize it," he said.
Although the phrase heard on the voice recorder has been described as a prayer, that doesn't mean it was related to the cause of the disaster. Arabic speakers make references to God in everyday statements.
Over the weekend, EgyptAir insisted that el-Habashy and Anwar were in good physical and mental condition, passing checkups in the past five months.
"They were among our best pilots," said Hassan Misharfa, EgyptAir's head of operations. "They had long experience and, in addition to that, they had passed all professional, safety and psychological tests successfully."
The airline did not address the condition of el-Batouty and Capt. Raouf Noureddin, another pilot. U.S. investigators are now studying the background of all crew members.
Married for 27 years, el-Batouty joined EgyptAir in 1987 after training pilots at Egypt's Civil Aviation Authority and the air force. He had more than 5,000 flight hours in a Boeing 767 and was to have retired in March.
His 10-year-old daughter, Aya, suffers from the immune disorder lupus erythematosis and had been treated in the United States.
"She was everything to him," his brother-in-law Essam Dahi said. "Only God will be able to give her the kind of love her father offered."
Mohammed el-Batouty, the co-pilot's son, denied that the family had any financial problems.
Dahi also remembered asking el-Batouty recently if he ever felt nervous flying over the ocean so often.
"We see our deaths every day over the ocean," el-Batouty had replied.