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==Trivia==
==Trivia==
* New Jersey Lottery holds two Pick-3 lottery drawings per day, and on the day of the crash, the numbers selected for the evening drawing were 5-8-7. The afternoon drawing was 5-7-8. So many people chose the combination for the evening draw that the prize was $16 for each 'winner', whereas $275 is the typical straight bet payout for Pick-3<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,38665,00.html 587 Is Winning Number in N.J. Lottery], [[Fox News]], [[November 13]], [[2001]]</ref>.

* 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|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.
* 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|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.


* Due to the proximity to 9/11, the [[BBC]] once again stopped regular programming on [[BBC1]] in favour of [[BBC News 24]]'s coverage of the air crash. Normal programming was resumed once it was made clear this was not a terrorist action.
* Due to the proximity to 9/11, the [[BBC]] once again stopped regular programming on [[BBC1]] in favour of [[BBC News 24]]'s coverage of the air crash. Normal programming was resumed once it was made clear this was not a terrorist action.


*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<ref>[http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2004/09/26/buscol.htm Sometimes, ballpark not best place to be], ''[[Times Herald-Record]]'', [[September 26]], [[2004]]</ref>. [[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<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/rumors/wtcfate.htm Claim: A woman who had survived the destruction of the World Trade Center died on American Airlines Flight 587 just two months later. Status: True.], [[Urban Legends Reference Pages|Snopes.com]], last updated [[November 15]], [[2001]]</ref>.
* 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<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/rumors/wtcfate.htm Claim: A woman who had survived the destruction of the World Trade Center died on American Airlines Flight 587 just two months later. Status: True.], [[Urban Legends Reference Pages|Snopes.com]], last updated [[November 15]], [[2001]]</ref>.


Revision as of 15:05, 12 September 2006

American Airlines Flight 587
Occurrence
DateNovember 12, 2001
SummaryIn-flight structural failure
SiteQueens, New York City
Aircraft typeAirbus A300-600
OperatorAmerican Airlines
RegistrationN14053disaster[1]
Passengers251
Crew9
Fatalities260 + 5 (ground)
Injuries1
Survivors0

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.

The Airbus A300-600 jet, registered N14053disaster[2], 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 (including five unticketed infants sitting on their parents' laps) — along with five people killed on the ground, making it one of the deadliest crashes on American soil.

Because of the location of the crash, and its occurrence just two months 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[3].

Whilst it has in the main been dismissed as a coincidence and scarcely reported, it is historically interesting that the crash occurred on the 4th anniversary of the conviction of Ramzi Yousef [4] on November 12, 1997 for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre Car Park.

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[5]. The fire was the result of fuel leakage as the engines separated from the wings, or engine compressor surges.

The A300, 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 co-pilot, Sten Molin, attempted to keep the plane upright with the rudder, but pushed the rudder too far to one side and then overcorrected too far to the other. 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. According to the NTSB, the crash would not have occurred but for the co-pilot's use of the rudder.

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."[6]

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.

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.

Trivia

  • 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.
  • Due to the proximity to 9/11, the BBC once again stopped regular programming on BBC1 in favour of BBC News 24's coverage of the air crash. Normal programming was resumed once it was made clear this was not a terrorist action.
  • 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[7].

See also

References

  1. ^ "FAA Registry (N14053)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  2. ^ "FAA Registry (N14053)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  3. ^ Flight 587 Witnesses Speak Out At Wave Sponsored Meeting The Wave, July 22, 2002
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ In-Flight Separation of Vertical Stabilizer; American Airlines Flight 587; Airbus Industrie A300-605R, N14053; Belle Harbor, New York; November 12, 2001, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Aircraft Accident Report NTSB/AAR-04/04 of October 26, 2004
  6. ^ "NTSB Press Release". October 26, 2004. Accessed December 6 2005.
  7. ^ Claim: A woman who had survived the destruction of the World Trade Center died on American Airlines Flight 587 just two months later. Status: True., Snopes.com, last updated November 15, 2001
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