El Marefah

Flight 990 was being flown in a Boeing 767-366ER aircraft (registration SU-GAP). The flight was carrying 14 crew members and 203 passengers from seven countries (Canada, Egypt, Germany, Sudan, Syria, United States, and Zimbabwe).[1][2] Included in the passenger manifest were over 30 Egyptian military officers, among them were two brigadier-generals, a colonel, major and four air force officers. Newspapers in Cairo were prevented by censors from reporting the officers' presence on the flight.[3] Flight 990 was crewed by 14 people, 10 flight attendants and four flight crewmembers. Because of the scheduled flight time, the flight required two complete flight crews (each consisting of one captain and one first officer). EgyptAir designated one crew as the "active crew" and the other as the "cruise crew" (sometimes also referred to as the "relief crew"). It was customary for the active crew to make the takeoff and fly the first four to five hours of the flight. The cruise crew then assumed control of the aircraft until about one to two hours prior to landing, at which point the active crew returned to the cockpit and assumed control of the airplane. EgyptAir designated the captain of the active crew as the Pilot-in-Command or the Commander of the flight. The active crew consisted of Captain El Habashy and First Officer Anwar, and the cruise crew were Captain El Sayed and First Officer Gameel Al-Batouti (the NTSB reports use the spelling "El Batouty").