EgyptAir crash was co-pilot's revenge for harassment claim

The Egyptair jet that plunged into the Atlantic killing 217 people in 1999 was brought down in an act of sabotage by the co-pilot who was seeking revenge against his boss, investigators have been told.

A report into the crash is due to be released next week by America's National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The report, which blames the co-pilot Gameel el-Batouty, will anger Egypt, which has dismissed the findings.

But while the report will be controversial and may strain relations between the US and one of its key Arab allies, the most incriminating evidence will not be included.

Yesterday the Los Angeles Times reported that the investigation had found evidence that Mr Batouty's personal and professional life was in disarray.

The evening before the flight, Mr Batouty's superior, Hatem Rushdy, had reprimanded the veteran co-pilot over allegations of sexual misconduct and told him he was being transferred from the prestigious trans-Atlantic routes.

"What [the report] won't do is talk about motivation," a source familiar with the report's findings said. "It won't use words like 'deliberate' or 'intentional.' And I can guarantee it won't use 'suicide'."

EgyptAir flight 990 crashed en route from New York to Cairo in the early hours of 31 October, 1999, 60 miles south of the Massachusetts islands of Nantucket. Evidence recovered from the Boeing 767's "black box" recorders reveals that shortly after the plane passed over the ocean Mr Batouty, 59, took the controls when the pilot, Mahmoud el-Habashy, visited the lavatory.

A recording from the black box reveals Mr Batouty was alone in the cockpit intoning in Arabic "Tawakkalt ala Allah" – words that essentially mean "I rely on God". At this point the plane went into a dive. The recorder also reveals Mr Habashy returning to the cockpit and urging his co-pilot to help him recover the plane.

The recorder reveals that as Mr Habashy was trying to bring the plane's nose up, Mr Batouty was pushing equally hard in the other direction.

A former EgyptAir captain, Hanofy Taha Mahmoud Hamdy, said the crash was an act of revenge against Mr Rushdy, the chief of the Boeing 767 pilot group, who was a passenger on the plane. A high-ranking American official in the investigation, who asked not to be named, said: "It was more revenge against Rushdy than just a suicide."

The Egyptian government, which owns EgyptAir, declined to comment. Officials have previously claimed the plane had a mechanical problem, despite a lack of evidence. They say all their pilots are devout Muslims, which would forbid suicide.