Posted on 06/01/2004 1:18:12 PM PDT by Boot Hill
Edited on 07/12/2004 3:42:14 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WASHINGTON, DC, May. 29 (UPI) -- An investigation into the November 2001 crash of an Airbus A-300-600 in New York has found an unrelated potentially lethal design flaw, the New York Times reports.
The newspaper says the National Transportation Safety Board does not believe that problems with the rudder control system caused the crash of American Airlines Flight 287 [should be: 587]. The plane came down shortly after taking off from Kennedy International Airport en route to the Dominican Republic, killing all 260 people on the plane and five on the ground.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
The A-300 I worked on 15 years ago was (former Easter Airlines plane). The only cables on the whole aircraft were to either the fire bottles or the fuel shut off (maybe both, can't remember).
http://www.airbus.com/media/fly_by.asp
Fly-by-wire is an electronically managed flight control system, which uses computers to make aircraft easier to handle while further enhancing safety. First introduced on a commercial jetliner on the Airbus A320 in 1988, it has become an industry standard.
Next you'll be telling us that TWA 800 wasn't brought down by a shoulder fired SAM from a speedboat out in Long Island Sound.
Or was it an Aegis training round (inert warhead)?
For some reason, that strikes me as a very funny phrase to describe the event. Is this standard aerodynamics jargon that I'm just not used to seeing?
I just got off an A300 from San Juan about 3 hours ago. I am glad I read this now and not before leaving. I would have ordered a whole bottle of booze.
A B-52 lost 80% of its vertical stabilizer in flight due to turbulence -- and the pilot flew it to a safe landing. I've seen the pics.
As I recall, the problem seemed to be that the rudder controls required a lot of force on the ground or at very low speeds. In flight, they were much more responsive. The co-pilot was not familar with the Airbus. It was his responsibility to operate the rudder foot pedals and to perform pre-flight checks on them. One theory was that when performing the pre-flight check-out he came to believe that the rudder required a lot of force. In flight, when he needed to operate the rudder he literally stepped on the control pedal and when the rudder over responded he jammed them in the opposite direction. It was classic example of an underdamped control system "hunting". The loop gain was too high and the time delay too long. After reading about the Gimli Glider, I sure wouldn't want to be in an Airbus when someone is attempting a dead stick landing.
And I am telling you that what I know ans daw (in my previous career, I was an aviation electrician and electronics tech). There are no mechanical connections between the yoke and the flight controls on an A-300. The A-300 has triple redundant flight control computers.
I suspect that we have a slight terminology problem here. The A-300 had flight control computers, but they were large and heavy and primitive by today's standards and, if I am not mistaken, analog computers vs. the digital computers of the A-320.
As I have implied, I have helped disassemble, inspect and rebuild several A-300's and dozens of 707's and DC-8's and 737's and 727's. There are only about 4 cables on an A-300.
How much of the plane is still in the bay?
Not the A310. It was conventional controls. A320s are FBW. However, if you think it was a shoe bomb, or a baggage bomb, an FBW plane would be much harder to take out, since the fiber optics and multiply redundant and the redundant links are run physically far apart.
Yes, in a nutshell. A very stupid location for composite materials.
Yes, losing the vert stab by itself should not have caused immediate loss of control.
More likely, the very stab and engines left for a common reason: High aerodynamic load on surfaces that never meant to fly sideways at 300+ kts. I.e.: loss of control first, then loss of large surfaces. Bomb or bad design, who knows?
Since Flight 800, since OKC and Waco, since Clinton was exonerated, who can trust the beltway and judges from of the beltway? Big black holes in every case they associate with. No "fully informed juries" after they lacebug the truth.
No dispute with any of this, but I would suggest (as I often do) that it was not at all smart to depend on composite materials to bear that load. Tests or no tests, that piece should have been metal all around. If weight was the issue, toss a hunk of titanium in there, but don't bet the farm on fabric and glue, right?
When and where?
And, as someone has already pointed out, there are no forensics indicating explosive material.
The bay is murky, muddy and black and full of trash. How much of the plane was recovered?
Because conspiracists are everywhere, especially on conservative websites.
Many of these people are disciples of Michael Rivero, formerly of this website, and head-conspiracist-in-chief.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.