Flight Profile
EgyptAir Flight 990 departed Los Angeles International Airport bound for Cairo with a scheduled stop at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The aircraft landed at JFK at about 23:48 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and arrived at the gate at about 00:10 EDT. Two flight crews, each consisting of a captain and a first officer, boarded the aircraft at JFK. The aircraft then taxied to runway 22R and received clearance for takeoff at 01:19 EDT.
Departure and Climb
Shortly after liftoff, the pilots contacted New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON). TRACON issued a series of climb instructions. At 01:26 EDT, the flight was instructed to climb to flight level (FL) 230 and to contact New York Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC). At 01:35 EDT, ARTCC instructed the flight to climb to FL330 and proceed directly to the DOVEY intersection.
Crew Rotation and Events on the Flight Deck
At about 01:40 EDT, the relief first officer suggested relieving the command first officer at the controls. The command first officer agreed and left the flight deck. The airplane leveled at FL330 four minutes later. At 01:48 EDT, the command captain decided to go to the toilet and left the flight deck. At 01:48:30 EDT, about 11 seconds after the captain departed, the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recorded an unintelligible comment. Ten seconds later, the relief first officer stated quietly, "I rely on God." No airplane anomaly or other unusual circumstance preceded this statement.
Unexplained Control Inputs
At 01:49:18 EDT, the CVR recorded the sound of an electric seat motor. Twenty-seven seconds later, the autopilot was disconnected. At 01:49:48 EDT, the relief first officer again stated quietly, "I rely on God." At 01:49:53 EDT, the throttle levers were moved from their cruise power setting to idle. One second later, the flight data recorder (FDR) recorded an abrupt nose-down elevator movement and a very slight movement of the inboard ailerons. The airplane began to pitch nose down and descend rapidly.
Between 01:49:57 and 01:50:05 EDT, the relief first officer quietly repeated "I rely on God" seven additional times. The load factor decreased from about 1 G to about 0.2 G (near weightlessness). The elevators continued moving further nose-down. Immediately, the captain entered the flight deck and asked loudly, "What's happening? What's happening?" As the load factor reached negative G (about -0.2 G), the relief first officer stated for the tenth time, "I rely on God."
Descent and Attempted Recovery
At 01:50:08 EDT, as the airplane exceeded its maximum operating airspeed (Mach 0.86), a master warning alarm sounded. The relief first officer stated quietly for the eleventh and final time, "I rely on God," and the captain repeated his question. At 01:50:15 EDT, while descending through about 27,300 feet, the rate of descent began to decrease. About six seconds later, the left and right elevator surfaces moved in opposite directions (split condition). The engine start lever switches for both engines moved from run to cutoff. At 01:50:24 EDT, the throttle levers moved from idle to full throttle, and the speedbrake handle moved to fully deployed. The captain asked, "What is this? What is this? Did you shut the engine(s)?" At 01:50:26 EDT, he stated, "Get away in the engines ... shut the engines." The relief first officer replied, "It's shut." Between 01:50:31 and 01:50:37 EDT, the captain repeatedly said, "Pull with me," but the elevators remained in a split condition until the FDR and CVR stopped recording at 01:50:36.64 and 01:50:38.47 EDT, respectively.
Final Moments
Primary radar data from joint FAA/U.S. Air Force sites indicated that the airplane's descent stopped about 01:50:38 EDT. The airplane then climbed to about 25,000 feet mean sea level and changed heading from 80° to 140° before starting a second descent, which continued until the airplane impacted the ocean.