Airplane Maker Airbus Industrie Blames American Airlines for 2001 NYC Crash That Killed 265

AP via Tampa Bay Online ^ | 3/20/03 | AP

[Diddle E. Squat]

NEW YORK (AP) - Airplane maker Airbus Industrie blamed American Airlines in court papers for "improper" flight operations that it said caused Flight 587 to crash in 2001, killing 265 people. The papers, filed this month in federal court in Manhattan, said the airline "failed to operate the aircraft in the manner that was foreseeable and normal or intended by Airbus."

"Nothing Airbus did or failed to do caused the accident or any harm or injury to the plaintiffs," the court papers say, referring to the victims of the crash.

An Airbus A300-600 crashed on Nov. 12, 2001, minutes after taking off for the Dominican Republic, killing all 260 people aboard and five people on the ground in Queens.

More than 200 legal suits from victims' families have since been filed against American and Airbus.

American Airlines spokesman John Hotard told the New York Post, which reported on the court papers Thursday, that Airbus' position was "ridiculous."

The National Transportation Safety Board is still examining why the plane's rudder suddenly began swerving violently, causing the tail fin to break off and the plane to crash.

At a Washington hearing last year, the NTSB presented evidence suggesting the co-pilot moved the rudder back and forth after encountering turbulence from a jet five miles ahead. But it is also investigating whether there was a problem with the rudder itself.

It said it may reach some conclusions by this spring.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Centurion2000]

Damn ... even the french business community is a bunch of weasels

[Alberta's Child]

I said from Day 1 that any theories about terrorism in this case would be clarified once the civil lawsuits started.

[onedoug]

"...failed to operate the aircraft in the manner that was foreseeable and normal or intended by Airbus."

Yeah. They tried to fly it.

[Blood of Tyrants]

As if they would admit culpability in court.

[Prince Charles]

Boeing makes their planes with the vertical stabilizer firmly attached to the aft bulkhead with a strong spar. The French, on the other hand, built their Airbus with no such spar -- the entire vertical stabilizer attaches via 6 bolts on the top of the fuselage, making for a much weaker joint. The $64 question is why did those joints fail? My guess is that the plane should never have been built this way, hence, a design flaw, courtesy of France.

[NYer]

As I recall, the French Aviation Administration also blamed an american airline - Continental Airlines - for the crash of the Concorde. Didn't they claim that something fell off of the Continental aircraft (serviced, mind you, by french airport workers at CDG) and that caused the tire to blow on the Concorde.

Everyone is to blame, except them. Yeah, right!

[CdMGuy]

Well, presuming American Airlines survives its upcoming bankruptcy, lets hope they get the message and buy Boeing aircraft from here on out. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you, nothing like giving a giant F U to one of your biggest customers.

[hunter112]

We've got a saying out here in WA state:

If it's not Boeing, I'm not going

[gg188]

I believe it was terrorism. How about you?

[sinkspur]

American hasn't bought an Airbus in eight years.

Nobody's buying any aircraft from anybody for the foreseeable future.

[Alberta's Child]

I really have no idea. But I do know one thing -- if there is any truth to those eyewitness accounts about the plane being brought down by a missile, then was NOT terrorism.

[ez]

Flight 587 was brought down by a shoe-bomber. Dozens of eyewitnesses saw TWO explosions.

Jet "exploded into pieces"
Feds Downplay Flt. 587 Explosion Reports

Breakup of Airliner is captured on security film.
Flight 587 Video Shows "Puff of Smoke" in Sky
FBI Sitting on Flt. 587 Videotape

Accident Theories Falling Like Dominoes (a collection of trial balloons)
Air Turbulence May Be Factor in Jetline Crash, Officials Say
Sabotage Explains Fight 587 Crash, Expert Says

JetBlue Pilot Saw American Airlines Crash
Flt. 587 Eyewitnesses insist Expolsion Came Before Tail Broke Off
Flight 587 probe focusing on what made tail fall off

Flight 587 Witnesses Blast Feds
Was Richard Reid Shoe Bomber #2?
Flight 587:Video May Hold the Key

[r9etb]

said from Day 1 that any theories about terrorism in this case would be clarified once the civil lawsuits started.

I suppose -- in the sense that it's not terrorism. This sounds like Airbus engaging in CYA about a structural failure of the vertical stabilizer -- which probably means that Airbus is at least partly at fault.

[ez]

Flt. 587 Eyewitnesses Insist Explosion Came Before Tail Broke Off
Newsmax ^ | 12/3/1 | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff


Monday Dec. 3, 2001; 11:07 a.m. EST

Flt. 587 Eyewitnesses Insist Explosion Came Before Tail Broke Off

Two eyewitness to the Nov. 12 crash of American Airlines Flight 587 said over the weekend that investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board are wrong to focus on potential structural defects as the cause of the disaster - insisting instead that the plane's tail came off over New York's Jamaica Bay only after it exploded in a fireball.

"It was after the explosion," eyewitness Tom Lynch, a retired firefighter, told the New York Post. "I'm telling you, the tail was there until the second explosion."

"No tail fell off, not before the explosion. I swear to that," Lynch told the paper's Steve Dunleavy.

The eyewitness said there was absolutely no doubt about what he saw.

"I had my head up taking in that beautiful, clear day and was staring straight at the plane. It made a bank turn and suddenly there was an explosion, orange and black, on the right-hand side of the fuselage. It was a small explosion, about half the size of a car."

He continued:

"The plane kept on going straight for about two or three seconds as if nothing had happened, then ‘vwoof' - the second, big explosion on the right wing, orange and black. It was only then that the plane fell apart. It was after the explosion and I'm telling you, the tail was there until the second explosion."

[Alberta's Child]

My stupid mistake -- I've gotten this mixed up with Flight 800. LOL.

[Alberta's Child]

Regardless of whether it was terrorism or not, there is something about some of these crashed that just ain't right.

Notice how many "mysterious" plane crashes there have been over the last ten years or so, and notice that almost every one of them involved a flight that originated at New York's Kennedy Airport.

[meyer]

Yeah. They tried to fly it.

LOL! Excellent. Yeah, if you just taxi all day, the tail fin won't fall off. Plus, even if it does, you're safe as you've already landed!!

[illumini]

"...improper flight operations.."(?)

A BOEING could do Aileron rolls! F*#k ScAirBus!