Jet may have lost its tail

Associated Press

NEW YORK — American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300, twice ran into turbulence left by a Boeing 747, including a blast of air that sent it careening sideways seconds before it crashed, investigators said Thursday.

With their inquiry focused on why the tail fin and rudder sheared off cleanly before the crash, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board released further details Thursday on the final seconds of the flight.

After the A300 experienced two turbulent "wake encounters," the rudder stopped sending usable data to the flight data recorder, the jetliner shook violently and then went into a steep dive.

"We have eight seconds we’re going to be looking at in extreme detail," said Tom Haueter, the NTSB’s deputy director of aviation. He said investigators are not ready to conclude that the tail fin sheared off at that point.

But experts are looking closely at whether the tail’s composite structure or the wake of the Japan Airlines jumbo jet may have contributed to the tail failure.

The JAL 747 left from the same runway at Kennedy Airport less than two minutes earlier. Monday’s crash killed all 260 people aboard the jet bound for the Dominican Republic and five more people on the ground in Queens.

Within eight seconds of the second wake encounter, Flight 587 began banking hard with its left wing down. The flight data recorder cut off at that point.

NTSB investigator George Black Jr. said investigators were almost certain the tail broke off before the jetliner’s twin engines did. While cautioning that investigators are not ready to rule out sabotage, he said the tail "doesn’t appear to have been sabotaged in any way."

Black also said the pilots of Flight 587 were probably unaware its tail fin had broken off as they struggled to control the plane.

In Washington, D.C., the Federal Aviation Administration was preparing to order inspections of Airbus A300s, focusing on the tail. The order would cover 90 of the European-built planes used by three U.S. airlines — American, FedEx and United Parcel Service. American has already agreed to do voluntary inspections of its 34 remaining A300s.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said a memorial service will be held Sunday for victims of the crash, but specifics were not immediately disclosed.