The public hearing into the crash of an American Airlines
Flight 587, which crashed in New York last November 12 killing all 260 aboard
and five on the ground, has degenerated into a polarized blamefest over rudder
movement. There's now no argument that five full back-and-forth deflections of
the A300-600's rudder (that generation of aircraft did not have fly-by-wire
rudder controls) caused the tail to rip off and make the aircraft unflyable.
But Airbus maintains it told American Airlines that its training on use of the
rudder was faulty and that communication indicates American knew such a failure
was possible. "Additional rudder use information should be provided with
emphasis on the consequence of inappropriate use of rudder," Airbus said
in a letter sent to American in 1997. But the airline denies Airbus ever
formally warned that moving the rudder too much at high speed could cause it to
come off. "Airbus says this was a perfectly fine plane and the pilot broke
the aircraft," said American spokesman Bruce Hicks. "That's
hogwash." There has also been discussion about whether the plane's co-pilot,
Sten Molin, who was at the controls, had a propensity to overuse the rudder.
Four months after the crash, the NTSB warned all airline pilots to be gentle on
the pedals.
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The public hearing into the crash of an American Airlines
Flight 587, which crashed in New York last November 12 killing all 260 aboard
and five on the ground, has degenerated into a polarized blamefest over rudder
movement. There's now no argument that five full back-and-forth deflections of
the A300-600's rudder (that generation of aircraft did not have fly-by-wire
rudder controls) caused the tail to rip off and make the aircraft unflyable.
But Airbus maintains it told American Airlines that its training on use of the
rudder was faulty and that communication indicates American knew such a failure
was possible. "Additional rudder use information should be provided with
emphasis on the consequence of inappropriate use of rudder," Airbus said
in a letter sent to American in 1997. But the airline denies Airbus ever
formally warned that moving the rudder too much at high speed could cause it to
come off. "Airbus says this was a perfectly fine plane and the pilot broke
the aircraft," said American spokesman Bruce Hicks. "That's
hogwash." There has also been discussion about whether the plane's co-pilot,
Sten Molin, who was at the controls, had a propensity to overuse the rudder.
Four months after the crash, the NTSB warned all airline pilots to be gentle on
the pedals.
