Font Size

Top Stories

E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

NTSB Says Rudder Worry Not Linked To 2001 Crash

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

Recipient E-mail:*
- Your Name:*
- Your E-mail:*
Add a Message:
Send me a copy of this e-mail.

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

Print Share + Comments

Apr 18, 2006 3:28 pm US/Eastern

NTSB Says Rudder Worry Not Linked To 2001 Crash

WASHINGTON (AP) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1

Close

numSlides of totalImages

Federal air safety officials said Tuesday that their investigation into the crash of Flight 587 in Queens is not affected by a recent warning of a different potential rudder problem in Airbus A300 jets.

The assurances came after Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-Queens, and a pilots' group urged the National Transportation Safety Board to reopen its investigation into the Nov. 12, 2001 crash of the American Airlines jet that killed 265 people. The NTSB determined the crash was caused by the pilot moving the rudder too aggressively.

On March 24, the agency urged inspections of the inner skin of the composite rudder surfaces of certain Airbus A-300 airplanes, the same type that crashed in New York when the city was still reeling from the Sept. 11 attacks.

Weiner said the new concerns about the composite rudder on the Airbus A-300's may offer new clues into the 2001 crash.

On Flight 587, the rudder fell off the plane along with the larger fin. The NTSB is now concerned about two recent instances in which a portion of the rudder deteriorated.

"The scenarios are different. What we noted in our recommendation letter in March did not occur on Flight 587," said NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz.