[Ol' Dan Tucker]

I think saying the rudder "nearly fell off" is a little bit of an understatement. See the photo:

Well, the rudder did fall off. The big concern is whether the vertical stabilizer nearly fell off.

You can land an airplane without a rudder (obviously), but it gets really tricky to land one without a vertical fin.

[gridlock]

You can land an airplane without a rudder (obviously), but it gets really tricky to land one without a vertical fin.

Landing an airliner without a rudder can be a might tricky in itself. They were pretty lucky, and the pilots were pretty good. If airliners did not need rudders, they would save the weight by not putting them on in the first place!