Boeing 767-366-ER accident near Atlantic Ocean, AO, October 31, 1999
On October 31, 1999 at about 6:52 am local time, a Boeing 767-366-ER, registered SUGAP, was destroyed in an accident near Atlantic Ocean, AO. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under foreign airline rules (Part 129). 217 people were killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the EgyptAir flight 990 accident is the airplane's departure from normal cruise flight and subsequent impact with the Atlantic Ocean as a result of the relief first officer's flight control inputs. The reason for the relief first officer's actions was not determined.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 31, 1999 · about 6:52 am local time
- Place
- Atlantic Ocean, AO
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 217 people were killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 767-366-ER · all 767-366-ERs on the register
- Registration
- SUGAP · no longer on the register · serial 24542
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · foreign airline rules (Part 129)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. On October 31, 1999, about 0152 eastern standard time, EgyptAir flight 990, a Boeing 767-366ER, SU-GAP, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about 60 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts. EgyptAir flight 990 was being operated under the provisions of Egyptian Civil Aviation Regulations Part 121 and U.S. 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 129 as a scheduled, international flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York, New York, to Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt. The flight departed JFK about 0120, with 4 flight crewmembers, 10 flight attendants, and 203 passengers on board. All 217 people on board were killed, and the airplane was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Flight time: 14,384 hours in all; 6,356 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Unknown (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: unk
- Injury: fatal
Other crew
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Flight time: 12,538 hours in all; 5,191 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Unknown (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 33,354 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, October 4, 1999; 214 hours since
- Seats: 217
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: P&W 4060 (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: JFK New York NY at 6:20 am
- Destination: HECA Cairo
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night
- Wind: from 170° at 9 knots
- Visibility: 9 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 55°F (13°C), dew point 52°F (11°C)
- Altimeter: 30.38 inHg
- Observation at 6:53 am from NAN, 120 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 14 | |||
| Passengers | 203 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.