Thu Mar 21, 2002 5:22 PM ET

By John Crawley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. investigators on Thursday blamed an EgyptAir co-pilot for a 1999 crash into the Atlantic, but could not explain why the veteran airman took the plane down with 217 people as he calmly repeated the phrase "I rely on God" in Arabic.

The Egyptian government rejected the report on Flight 990 as "flawed from the outset" and its outcome predetermined. Maintaining its belief that mechanical failure was to blame, Cairo said it would appeal to the U.S. government.

Ending an investigation that strained relations between the United States and one of its closest allies in the Middle East, the National Transportation Safety Board (news - web sites) concluded the probable cause of the crash was actions by the co-pilot that put the Boeing 767-366 ER into a nose dive from 33,000 feet.

Investigators said they explored numerous possible reasons for Gamiel El Batouty's actions, but more than two years after the crash they could not pinpoint intent or motive.

Safety board and criminal investigators examined El Batouty's personal background and work history thoroughly, but found no credible evidence to suggest the crash was linked to any unlawful activity or claims of personal misconduct.

Described in Egypt as a devoted family man, Batouty had been accused of various lewd acts at a New York hotel where pilots of the state-run carrier stayed. The Pennsylvania Hotel even considered banning him, but EgyptAir said at the time he was harmless and about to retire, FBI (news - web sites) documents showed.

Also, investigators were told the airline had disciplined El Batouty the evening before ill-fated flight, telling him he would be removed from the lucrative Los Angeles-Cairo route.

But a source familiar with the investigation said the safety board could not corroborate that information and it was not cited in the final report.

EVENTS IN THE COCKPIT

Crash investigators said the nature and degree of the plane's steep descent shortly into the New York to Cairo flight on Oct. 31, 1999, could only be explained by events in the cockpit.

Investigators relied heavily on information from the flight data and cockpit voice recorders.

The final report detailed the drama between the captain, Mahmoud el-Habashy, and El Batouty as the aircraft plunged from an altitude of more than six miles toward the ocean off the Massachusetts coast.

From the outset the probe centered on El Batouty, who was alone in the cockpit soon after takeoff when he quietly said to himself in Arabic, "I rely on God."

"There were no sounds or events recorded by the flight recorders that would indicate that an airplane anomaly or other unusual circumstance preceded the relief first officer's statement," the report found.

Seconds later, the auto pilot was disconnected and flight controls were adjusted to push the plane nose-down. El Batouty was heard repeating "I rely on God" several more times.

The captain returned and asked loudly: "What's happening? What's happening?"

STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL

The rate of descent began to decrease at this point before one or both of the engines stopped.

"What is this? What is this? Did you shut the engine(s)?" the captain asked El Batouty.

The crash report also noted that mechanisms in the tail, called elevators, that control the up and down movement of the nose were moving in opposite directions. This suggested a struggle between the two men for control of the plane.

The captain repeatedly cried out "Pull with me" in an apparent effort to save the aircraft.

The Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority (ECCA) called for more work, saying U.S. officials did not consider evidence supporting multiple failures in the elevator system. But the safety board found nothing to support that theory.

NTSB (news - web sites) Chairwoman Marion Blakey called the probe thorough.

"The report's analysis and conclusions are firmly supported by the physical evidence and recorded data," she said, offering sympathies to the families of those killed.

The safety board noted El Batouty's failure to call for help or utter any audible reaction of surprise after the plane began to dive as evidence supporting its conclusion.

El Batouty's actions were "inconsistent with the reaction that would be expected from a pilot who is encountering an unexpected or uncommanded flight condition," the board said.

Aviation sources last week said board members wrestled over whether to conclude that El Batouty acted deliberately, and left out that language from the report.

An Egyptian investigator said, "The final report shows that the Americans have retreated from their allegations regarding the suicide of Batouty or that his action was premeditated."

In a response published with the report, Egyptian government investigators criticized the investigation as "limited and incomplete," accusing U.S. investigators of using selected facts to support a predetermined conclusion.

Errors in translating words on the cockpit recorder spurred the NTSB to focus on the presumed actions of the pilot, but the agency included no evidence of intent or motive that would explain El Batouty's actions, the ECCA said.