SEVENTEEN years ago, an EgyptAir plane rolled down the runway on what was another normal takeoff.
EgyptAir Flight 990 was en route from Los Angeles to Cairo, with a stop at a New York airport.
It was Oct. 31, 1999 — Halloween day.
Thirty minutes after takeoff from JFK in New York, 217 people died. It was a crash that shook the world — and complicated U.S.-Egypt relations for some time to come.
READ MORE: EgyptAir plane 'made series of sharp turns and plummeted' before crash
On Thursday, another EgyptAir commercial jet en route to Cairo disappeared from radar. Officials were scrambling to find out what happened to the Airbus A320, which was carrying 56 passenger and 10 crewmembers.
For Flight 990, the National Transportation Board eventually concluded that the cause of the crash had been a “deliberate act” by the relief first officer. Other investigations by Egypt, however, said the cause of the crash was mechanical failure.
Some reports said the co-pilot, who had been earlier reprimanded for sexual misconduct, deliberately crashed the plane as an act of revenge.
READ MORE: EgyptAir plane 'made series of sharp turns and plummeted' before crash
The Egyptian investigation pointed to several failure scenarios, such as a power control unit issue.
Some said Americans misunderstood the co-pilot’s last words, a Muslim prayer, as a farewell message, but other investigators pointed to suicide as a motive. The split on understanding the outcome ruffled U.S and Egypt relations. However, despite friction between the two countries over the crash investigation, military cooperation continued with the U.S. still providing Egypt with billions in military aid.
READ MORE: EgyptAir plane 'made series of sharp turns and plummeted' before crash
The crash was in the news in recent years after a co-pilot on a Germanwings plane in March of 2015 deliberately crashed into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board, an act some said was similar to the EgyptAir flight.
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