American Airlines Flight 587

American Airlines Flight 587

Occurrence
Date	November 12, 2001
Summary	In-flight structural failure
Site	Queens, New York City
Aircraft type	Airbus A300-600
Operator	American Airlines
Registration	N14053disaster
Passengers	251
Crew	9
Fatalities	265 (including 5 on the ground)
Injuries	1
Survivors	0

American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens in New York City shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport on November 12, 2001. This was the second deadliest U.S. aviation accident to date.

Circumstances

The American Airlines Airbus A300-600 jet, registered N14053disaster, which left JFK bound for Santo Domingo's Las Americas International Airport, crashed at 9:17 A.M. local time. All 260 people on board were killed — two flight crew members, seven flight attendants, and 251 passengers — along with five people killed on the ground, making it one of the deadliest crashes on American soil.

As the crash occurred in New York City and took place almost two months to the day after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, many people initially believed it was caused by terrorism. These claims were supported by eyewitnesses who claimed to have seen the aircraft on fire shortly before the crash.

Cockpit Voice Recording

0913:27.6 TWR American five eight seven heavy, wind three zero zero at niner, runway three one left, cleared for takeoff.

0913:31.7 RDO-1 Cleared for takeoff, American ah, five eight seven heavy.

0913:35.3 HOT-2 You happy with that distance?

0913:38.5 HOT-1 Aah, he's.... we'll be all right once we get rollin'. he's supposed to be five miles by the time we're airborne, that's the idea.

0913:45.5 HOT-2 So you're happy. lights?

0913:47.1 HOT-1 Yeah, lights are on.

0913:47.8 HOT-2 Takeoff check's complete, I'm on the roll. thank you sir.

0913:53.5 HOT-1 Thrust SRS, runway.

0913:54.7 CAM [Sound similar to increase in engine RPM]

0914:03.8 HOT-2 You got throttles.

0914:08.9 HOT-1 Eighty knots, thrust blue.

0914:23.4 HOT-1 V one.

0914:24.3 HOT-1 Rotate.

0914:25.7 HOT-1 V two

0914:28.5 HOT-1 V two plus ten.

0914:30.4 HOT-2 Positive rate, gear up please.

0914:31.5 HOT-1 Gear up.

0914:33.1 CAM [Sound of thump and two clicks]

0914:38.5 HOT-2 Heading select.

0914:41.9 HOT-1 Clear left.

0914:42.6 TWR American five eight seven heavy, turn left. Fly the Bridge Climb. Contact New York departure. Good morning.

0914:48.3 RDO-1 American five eighty seven heavy, so long.

0914:51.4 HOT-1 Gear's up.

0914:52.5 HOT-2 Check speed, level change.

0914:54.8 HOT-2 Flaps up.

0914:56.5 HOT-2 Climb power.

0914:57.1 CAM [Sound of click]

0915:00.0 RDO-1 Ah New York, American five eighty seven heavy, thirteen hundred feet, we're climbing to five thousand.

0915:04.7 DEP American five eight seven heavy, New York departure. Radar contact. Climb maintain one three thousand.

0915:10.2 RDO-1 One three thousand feet, American five eighty seven heavy.

0915:14.6 HOT-2 One three I see, slats retract.

0915:16.5 HOT-1 Slats.

0915:17.2 CAM [Sound of several clicks] 0915:28.5 HOT-1 Clean machine.

0915:28.5 HOT-2 [Sound similar to yawn] thank you.

0915:36.4 DEP American five eighty seven heavy, turn left, proceed direct WAVEY.

0915:37.3 HOT-1 [Sound of brief squeak and a rattle]

0915:41.0 RDO-1 Uh, we'll turn direct WAVEY, American five eighty seven heavy.

0915:44.4 HOT-2 Left turn direct WAVEY….

0915:44.7 HOT-1 Little wake turbulence, huh?

0915:45.6 HOT-2 …yeah.

0915:47.3 HOT-2 [Sound similar to five sets of stabilizer trim switch clicks]

0915:48.2 HOT-2 Two fifty thank you.

0915:51.0 [Aircraft encounters second wake vortex]

0915:51.8 CAM [Sound of a thump]

0915:52.3 CAM [Sound of click]

0915:52.9 CAM [Sound of two thumps]

0915:54.2 HOT-2 Max power. [spoken in strained voice]

0915:55.0 HOT-1 You all right?

0915:55.3 HOT-2 Yea, I'm fine.

0915:56.3 HOT-1 Hang onto it. hang onto it.

0915:56.6 CAM [Sound of snap]

0915:57.5 HOT-2 Let's go for power please.

0915:57.7 CAM [Sound of loud thump]

0915:58.5 CAM [Sound of loud bang]

0916:00.0 HOT-2 [Sound similar to human grunt]

0916:00.2 CAM [Roaring noise starts and increases in amplitude]

0916:01.0 HOT-2 Holy #.

0916:01.0 CAM [Sound similar to single ECAM chime]

0916:02.0 CAM [Sound similar to single ECAM chime]

0916:04.4 CAM [Sound similar to stall warning repetitive chime for 1.9 seconds]

0916:06.2 CAM [Roaring noise decreases and ends]

0916:07.5 HOT-2 What the hell are we into *. We're stuck in it.

0916:07.5 CAM [Sound similar to continuous repetitive chimes for one second]

0916:09.6 CAM [Sound similar to continuous repetitive chimes for three seconds]

0916:12.8 HOT-1 Get out of it, get out of it.

0916:14.8 END of RECORDING

Investigation

After the crash, Floyd Bennett Field's empty hangars were used as a makeshift morgue for the identification of crash victims.

The official National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report of October 26, 2004, stated that the cause of the crash was the overuse of the rudder to counter wake turbulence. The smoke and fire was the result of fuel leakage as the engines separated from the wings due to huge g-forces, or engine compressor surges.

The A300-600, which took off just minutes after a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 on the same runway, flew into the larger jet's wake, an area of very turbulent air. The first officer attempted to keep the plane upright with the rudder. The strength of the air flowing against the moving rudder stressed the aircraft's vertical stabilizer and eventually snapped it off entirely, causing the aircraft to lose control and crash.

Investigators were concerned regarding the manner in which the tail fin separated. The tail fin is connected to the fuselage with six attaching points, each set has two sets of nuts, one made out of composite material, another from aluminum which is connected by a titanium bolt, however damage analysis showed the bolts and aluminum lugs were intact but not the composite lugs. There were fears that the composites were faulty because they are used in other areas of the plane including the engine mounting and the wings, however examinations of construction and the materials gave the plane a clean bill of health.

Timeline of events

5 Minutes before the crash

American Airlines 587 waits for clearance for take-off, while Japan Airlines Flight 47 takes off. Seconds later, the crew receives a warning of wake-turbulence.

2 Minutes before the crash

587 takes off for the Dominican Republic.

1 Minute to go

587 hits the first wave of turbulence.

30 seconds to go

A second, larger wave of turbulence hits 587, causing the plane to start banking to the left. In a desperate attempt for control, the first officer applies another rudder input to the right, then again applies full rudder.

On the fifth rudder input, all six lugs connecting the tail to the fuselage tear apart. Seconds later, huge g-forces rip both engines away and flight 587 crashes into the houses below, killing 265.

Responsibility

Airbus and American are currently disputing the extent to which the two parties are responsible for the disaster. American charges that the crash was mostly Airbus's fault, because the A300 was designed with unusually sensitive rudder controls. Most aircraft require increased pressure on the rudder pedals to achieve the same amount of rudder control at a higher speed. The Airbus A300 and later A310 do not operate on a fly-by-wire flight control system, instead using conventional mechanical flight controls. The NTSB determined that "because of its high sensitivity, the A300-600 rudder control system is susceptible to potentially hazardous rudder pedal inputs at higher speeds."

Airbus charges that the crash was mostly American's fault, because the airline did not train its pilots properly about the characteristics of the rudder. Aircraft tail fins are designed to withstand full rudder in one direction at maneuvering speed. However, they are not usually designed to withstand an abrupt shift in rudder from one direction to the other. Most American pilots believed that the tail fin could withstand any rudder movement at maneuvering speed.

Memorial

A memorial was constructed in Belle Harbor, in memory of the 265 victims of the crash, at Beach 116th Street, a major commercial area in the community. The memorial was dedicated on November 12, 2006, the fifth anniversary of the incident, in a ceremony attended by Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg. The memorial wall, designed by Dominican artist Freddy Rodriguez and Situ Studio, has windows and a doorway looking towards the nearby Atlantic Ocean and angled towards the Dominican Republic. The Memorial is inscribed with the names of the victims. Atop the memorial is a quote, in both Spanish and English, from Dominican poet Pedro Mir, reading "Despues yo quiero no mas que paz / Afterwards I want only peace."

Miscellaneous

• Flight 587 no longer exists. The flight route designation of flights between Kennedy Airport and Las Americas Airport now are under Flight 619, Flight 635, and Flight 789.
• Not only was this the second American Airlines jet to crash after takeoff from JFK, but the second to crash from rudder-related problems. On March 1, 1962, American Airlines Flight 1, a Boeing 707-123, crashed into Jamaica Bay, killing all 95 onboard, after a wiring fault in the rudder caused uncommanded rudder deflection, resulting in loss of control.
• Had the New York Yankees won Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, infielder Enrique Wilson would have flown home to the Dominican Republic and been aboard American Airlines Flight 587. Mariano Rivera claims that he is glad that he blew the save in the bottom of the ninth because he now still has a friend.
• One of the passengers killed on the flight was Hilda Yolanda Mayol, a 26-year-old woman on her way to vacation in her native Dominican Republic. Two months earlier, on September 11, Mayol had been working at a restaurant on the ground floor of the World Trade Center, and had escaped before the building collapsed.
• The Flight 587 disaster happened exactly five years after the Charkhi Dadri air disaster, which resulted in the loss of 312 people.

See also

• List of notable accidents and incidents on commercial aircraft

External links

• Satellite view of crash site from Google Maps
• BBC documentary on crash
• NTSB - American Airlines Flight 587, Official site for the National Transportation and Safety Board investigative hearings on the crash
• Debunking of rumors about terrorists causing the crash (from Snopes.com)
• Images of the crash scene
• Alternative theory suggesting a sabotaged thrust reverser caused the crash
• Photos of the plane involved in the accident and of the crash scene from Airliners.net
• Flight 587 Memorial Project
• Meteorology and Wake Vortex Influence on American Airlines FL-587 Accident
• Irish evening news bulletin from the day, which details initial speculation and other information (RTÉ)