Massachusetts sees its fair share of natural disasters like hurricanes and the occasional monster blizzard, but we’re fortunate to not have too many terrible manmade disasters in our history. However, the state’s past isn’t entirely spotless. One of the most terrifying disasters in Massachusetts history occurred on Halloween of 1999 just off the coast of Nantucket.
At 1:20 a.m. EST, EgyptAir Flight 990 took off from Los Angeles International Airport on its way to Cairo International Airport on October 31, 1999.
Wikimedia Commons/Konstantin There were 217 people on board, of which 100 were Americans. Because of the 10-hour flight time, the plane had two complete crews. One was considered an “active” crew, and the other a “relief” crew. The co-pilot for the relief crew was 59-year-old Gameel Al-Batouti.
The active crew included 36-year-old First Officer Adel Anwar, who had switched places with another co-pilot that night so that he could make it back to Egypt in time for his wedding.
When the plane was flying above the ocean south of Nantucket Island, something went wrong.
Wikimedia Commons/NTSB While the captain was in the bathroom and co-pilot Al-Batouti was alone in the cockpit, the plane went into a tremendous nose dive. The descent was so rapid that everyone in the plane experienced total weightlessness. The vessel dropped 14,600 feet in 36 seconds and almost broke the sound barrier. Despite experiencing zero gravity, the captain managed to claw his way back to the cockpit. He is heard on the flight recorder exclaiming “what’s happening? What’s happening?”
During the investigation into the crash, it was revealed that the co-pilot Al-Batouti said “I rely on God” in Egyptian Arabic just before the plane plummeted, and repeated the phrase seven more times before the captain reappeared from the bathroom.
Wikimedia Commons/isaac d Merriman
The plane nosedived into the waters south of Nantucket. All 217 people aboard were killed.
Flickr/Tika Gregory
While Egyptian authorities refused to acknowledge possibility of the co-pilot deliberately crashing the plane (they claimed it was a mechanical malfunction), the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board listed the cause of the accident as “deliberate action by the relief first officer.”
Wikimedia Commons/Konstantin
There were 217 people on board, of which 100 were Americans. Because of the 10-hour flight time, the plane had two complete crews. One was considered an “active” crew, and the other a “relief” crew. The co-pilot for the relief crew was 59-year-old Gameel Al-Batouti.
The active crew included 36-year-old First Officer Adel Anwar, who had switched places with another co-pilot that night so that he could make it back to Egypt in time for his wedding.
Wikimedia Commons/NTSB
While the captain was in the bathroom and co-pilot Al-Batouti was alone in the cockpit, the plane went into a tremendous nose dive. The descent was so rapid that everyone in the plane experienced total weightlessness. The vessel dropped 14,600 feet in 36 seconds and almost broke the sound barrier. Despite experiencing zero gravity, the captain managed to claw his way back to the cockpit. He is heard on the flight recorder exclaiming “what’s happening? What’s happening?”
Wikimedia Commons/isaac d Merriman
Flickr/Tika Gregory
Since the disaster, the airline has changed the flight number for the route from JFK to Cairo to Flight 986.
With such a high number of fatalities, the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 is one of the worst aviation disasters to occur in Massachusetts.
If doom and gloom is your thing, be sure to check out our list of the 11 most horrendous disasters ever to occur in the Bay State.
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