First Officer Gameel Al-Batouti takes control of EgyptAir Flight 990 after it is established at its cruising altitude of 33,000 feet, and switches off the autopilot. The aircraft subsequently dives at a rate of over 20,000 feet per minute (losing 17,000 feet of altitude in 44 seconds), creating weightlessness in the cabin. The aircraft ascends back to 24,000 feet, then dives again. The manoeuvres cause the left engine to be torn off. Less than three minutes after leaving cruising altitude the aircraft crashes into the Atlantic Ocean 100 kilometres South of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Today, the cause is still being argued over.