[John W]

Story buried in "Travel".

[Fred Mertz]

Shoe bomber 1 took this plane down.

Ignore this disinfo article. Very slick tho'.

[null and void]

Nothing to see here, move along™...

[Fred Mertz]

fyi

[Thane_Banquo]

But researchers said they have not yet found the cause of the deadly accident.

Translation: The NTSB is trying hard to find whatever evidence they can to classify this as a mechanical failure so they won't have to hand the case over to the FBI.

[Young Werther]

Aviation Week has had some detailed analysis of the rudder excursions which would have caused the tail fin failure. There is a documented instance where rudder reversal occurred and the pilots did not recognize the reversal. Their rudder input was toO severe and opposite of the input necessary to correct the situation.

One article mentioned that on today's jet transports there is little need for rudder movements and in some sense this means that pilots are not experienced enough, and their simulator training doesn't focus on good pilotage techniques when it comes to rudder inputs. A retired B-47 then commerical airline pilot opined as much.

The answer is complex but in all likelihood was a wake turbulence induced transient followed by a rudder reversal and incorrect pilot control input which busted the tail fin off. Maintenance records show that this fin had been overstressed and "repaired". So, like most accidents there is no easy explanation but Boeing and Airbus are runniNg other engineering studies to see whether material design changes and pilot training enhancements are needed.

Still a work in progress BUT... NO SHOE BOMB!!!

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

Photos of plane pieces are at http://www.ntsb.gov/events/2001/AA587/tailcomp.htm

IMHO, the problem wasn't that the fin was made of composite, it was that the attachments were composite. That's an unusual usage and very ill-advised. Bad design, in other words, is my primary suspect for this crash.

But the outwardly petal'd holes in the fuselage (seen in the pictures labeled "Center and aft attachment points (left side)", for example) also need explaining. The shoe-bomb notion is an attractive one and would explain these holes and the loss of the tail, except that there's no place for a passenger to sit under here, except in a bathroom (all of which are verified as empty before takeoff). Jump-seats for crew-members are found here, though.

Hm.

[Waco]

Terrorist or stall-spin.

[KentuckyWoman]

Flight 587 bump!!