Washington, D.C.
American Airlines and Airbus blamed each other last week for a November 2001 crash in New York City that killed 265 people. During National Transportation Safety Board hearings, Airbus officials said American trained pilots to sharply turn a tail rudder to counter turbulence, a maneuver that could have caused American Airlines Flight 587’s tail to snap off. American executives said Airbus should have warned of the danger. Investigators avoided pointing fingers, but confirmed that rudder movement probably broke the tail and caused the crash. Cockpit recordings indicate that the plane began shaking and roaring after co-pilot Sten Molin turned the rudder back and forth in turbulence. “What the hell are we into?” Molin asked. “Get out of it!” the captain replied. Two seconds later, the airliner slammed into a neighborhood in Queens.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The state of Britain's Armed ForcesThe Explainer Geopolitical unrest and the unreliability of the Trump administration have led to a frantic re-evaluation of the UK's military capabilities
-
Anti-anxiety drug has a not-too-surprising effect on fishUnder the radar The fish act bolder and riskier
-
Sudoku hard: April 21, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
