The captain of American Airlines Flight 587 was unaware that the tailfin had snapped off the jetliner he was struggling to control moments before it ploughed into suburban New York, it became clear yesterday, nearly 12 months after the disaster which killed 265 people.
The cockpit voice recordings of the 103-second interval between the plane’s takeoff from John F Kennedy airport and its plunge into an inferno in the Queens district on November 12 last year were released yesterday at the beginning of the national transportation safety board’s hearing into the crash.
The first exchanges between the captain, Edward States, and his co-pilot, Sten Molin, were routine, filled with the jargon of takeoff as the plane left for the Dominican Republic, the birthplace of many of its passengers.
But a minute later the Airbus A300 encountered turbulence as it flew into the two wakes generated by a Japan Airlines Boeing which had taken off two minutes earlier, and was flying five miles ahead of it.
”Little wake turbulence, huh?” States said as the flight hit the first bump.
Seconds later, as the Airbus started to climb, it ran into the second, larger wake.
The cockpit recorder noted three thumps, and a call by Molin for ”max power”.
”You all right?” States asked.
”Yeah, I’m fine,” Molin replied.
The rudder apparently began to swing back and forth violently.
”Hang on to it. Hang on to it,” States called out.
Seven seconds later the transcripts reveal a snap, and two loud bangs, which the investors believe was the tailfin falling off.
A roaring noise filled the cockpit, and two chimes, indicating that the engines had fallen off.
But the recordings offer no evidence that the crew knew that the tailfin had fallen off.
”What the hell are we into? We’re stuck in it,” Molin said after the tailfin had separated.
”Get out of it, get out of it,” States said.
The transcript ended two seconds later as the plane plunged to earth.
The crash was the second-deadliest on US soil, and its timing — two months after hijacked airliners crashed into the World Trade Centre — was especially poignant.
At least two of the passengers killed in Flight 587 had escaped death in the twin towers, and in that time of suspicion and fear it was initially thought that the crash was the product of another such attack.
But then and since officials have ruled out that theory, along with engine failure and fire.
”There is no indication to date of any criminal activity associated with this crash,” Carol Carmody, the acting chairwoman of the safety board, said at the hearing.
The board had tried to establish why the tailfin of the Airbus had snapped off, Robert Benzon, the official leading the investigation, said.
The possible causes included the manoeuvres undertaken by the crew, rudder movement, and the effects of the turbulence created by the larger flight.
Investigators have learned since the crash that pulling sharply on the rudder can put too much stress on the tailfin, and may cause it to fall off.
Weather, the aircraft’s maintenance history, and engine performance, and the procedures followed by air traffic controllers, have also been ruled out as causes. – Guardian Unlimited (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002