Posted on 11/16/2001 1:21:47 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
By Patrick Markey
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A JetBlue Airways pilot waiting for take-off at John F. Kennedy International Airport saw the American Airlines flight that crashed on Monday as it fell from the sky accompanied by smoke and a smaller piece of the aircraft, according to an internal report.
The pilot told the JetBlue officials that in its final moments American Airlines Flight 587 appeared to be in a very steep descent, falling nose down at about 80 degrees in a spiral dive.
Before it exploded on impact, the aircraft was accompanied by the smaller piece above and to the right or southwest of the smoke trailing behind the main body, according to the internal JetBlue report provided to Reuters.
The investigation into Monday's crash has become centered on the Airbus A300's tail fin and rudder that separated from the plane before it crashed killing up to 265 people, including casualties on the ground.
Investigators recovered the tail fin of the aircraft from Jamaica Bay.
Preliminary flight data released on Thursday showed the aircraft, operated by AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, was buffeted twice by turbulence in its final moments before beginning a sharp downward turn to the left.
Safety investigators said the turn occurred even as the pilots' controls were set to the right, suggesting the plane was no longer responding to pilot commands.
Investigators are still examining and comparing information from the aircraft's black box and its flight data recorder to piece together a clearer picture of what happened.
We clearly disagree about the cause and significance of any number of recent events. (such as flight 800)
But it's equally apparent to me that you are as firmly entrenched in your beliefs as I am in mine.
To be blunt about it, since no one is paying me to make an effort to modify your way of looking at things, it really isn't an activity that's worth doing, so I'll simply agree to disagree with you...
And wish you a good day.
That's what I was thinking also.
It appears to me that it's delaminating along the vertical plane as if it had been buffeted from side to side. After seeing this up close I'm now wondering how Boeing does theirs.
These pieces weren't exposed to fire.
Exactly right. They found in the maintenance records for this plane that 7 years ago it got caught in a rather severe wind shear/turbulence which may have caused structural damage, that went undetected.
* We've seen incidents in the past where wind shears have caused planes to slam into the ground (crash during takeoff or landing)) or land hard
* We've seen incidents in the past where counterfeit plane parts have caused engine failure
* We've seen incidents in the past where bad maintenance (such as lack of lubrication on the tail corkscrew on the MD80) or lack of maintenance due to improper manufacturer specification, caused structural failure. Alaska Airlines had this problem a few years back, which caused the FAA to ground EVERY MD80 in service. Ironically, this problem happened over the course of 10 years and it took the FAA and the manufacturer that long to find it. Even though there were MANY complaints of loss of control over that airplane due to the corkscrew.
So before everyone puts on their tinfoil hats (probably too late for that) and blames this one on terrorism, we've seen in the pat where bad maintenance, wind shear, wake turbulence and more have caused airline accidents.
As soon as I heard it was an Airbus 300, I *knew* this was either engine or structural failure. These planes along with the Airbus A320 have *lousy* safety records. Frankly, Airbus can't build a plane. Anytime I've been booked on an Airbus (EU Built CRAP!) I've gotten my flight switched to another plane.
It wasn't a bomb/terrorist attack ...
It was just bad maintenance on that plane.
What kind of aircraft would an MDC C94-40 be? Never heard of it before, but are scheduled to fly on one. Northworst is the airline.
Move along!
Only if it's a Frog-built Airbus!
As my post indicates, my reference to Mike Wire is merely my transcript of a radio interview done on 8/23/2001. There were at least two threads here on that subject, for anyone who wants to research this further.
Finally, if our government lies, it is our responsibility to stop it. I will not follow a government that can't tell me what "is" is.
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.