US NTSB unable to confirm how much material has been salvaged from crashed EgyptAir flight 990

Airline Industry Information, Dec 23, 1999

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2000 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

The US National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) is still not able to confirm how much of the wreckage of EgyptAir flight 990 had been salvaged from the ocean floor, but is confident that the operation includes parts from all areas of the aircraft.

The salvage ship involved in the ten-day recovery mission returned to Rhode Island port on 21 December laden with both human remains and aircraft debris.

According to comments from the NTSB so far, the debris includes minute particles from the `extreme fragmentation of the aircraft fuselage` as well as several larger pieces, including one about six metres in length.

Already a team of about 90 investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the NTSB, the US Public Health Service and the Egyptian government have separated the wreckage into four categories including human remains, personal effects, soft material from inside the cabin and parts of the Boeing 767. The human remains have now been handed over to the jurisdiction of the Rhode Island medical examiner. The wreckage is at a hanger at Quonset Point where it will be dried and examined in a process expected to last `several weeks` according to the NTSB.

A video-map of the wreckage recovery will also be made by the US Navy in the near future.

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