New Suits Dispute Suicide Theory in EgyptAir Jet Crash

Ten federal lawsuits were filed in Los Angeles on Monday challenging the prevailing theory that a suicidal co-pilot caused the crash one year ago of an EgyptAir jetliner off the coast of Nantucket Island.

The suits, filed on behalf of the families of 16 victims, name EgyptAir; Boeing, the manufacturer of the plane; and Parker-Hannifin, which designed some of the plane’s flight control systems.

EgyptAir’s Flight 990 dived into the sea Oct. 31, 1999, while on a scheduled flight from Los Angeles to Cairo. All 217 aboard the Boeing 767 jetliner were killed. Ten of the victims were from Southern California.

Jim Hall, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, the agency overseeing the official investigation of the crash, has said repeatedly that no evidence has emerged to refute the hypothesis that the plane was deliberately brought down by a member of the cockpit crew. Others have identified that crew member as co-pilot Gamil Batouty.

Although some say that El Batouty’s Islamic beliefs would have precluded any suicide attempt, the FBI has suggested that he may have been severely demoralized by a New York hotel security staff investigation into accusations that he exposed himself and made sexual advances to hotel staff members and guests.

On the other hand, the airline has maintained all along that mechanical problems or other difficulties could have caused the crash, and it has criticized the NTSB for a rush to judgment.

The airline has suggested that a malfunction of the plane’s elevators, hinged portions of the wing-like part of the tail that largely control up-and-down pitch, might be to blame. Parker-Hannifin designed the elevators.

In the suits filed Monday, San Francisco attorney Terry O’Reilly, a frequent litigant in air crash cases, contends that the airline and the two manufacturers were negligent and careless in the construction, design, operation, maintenance, inspection, testing and repair of the plane.

O’Reilly cited a Federal Aviation Administration directive in August ordering U.S. carriers to inspect the elevator mechanisms on all 767s.

The directive stemmed from the discovery of an elevator problem on a 767 on the ground, and the FAA and NTSB said there was nothing to link the find with the crash of Flight 990.

But O’Reilly said he thinks further investigation will show there is a connection.

“A lot of things people once believed to be true have since turned out to be based on questionable evidence,” he said.

O’Reilly’s suits are among dozens of legal actions initiated on the eve of the first anniversary of the crash, including several filed in Santa Ana on Oct. 14 by the families of five victims from Orange County. In many jurisdictions, such suits must be filed within a year.

The Orange County suits accused the airline of lax maintenance and allowing a mentally unstable crew member to pilot the plane.