NO SIGNS OF ENGINE FAILURE!

FOX News

[X-Servative]

At the NTSB press conference, they just stated that both engines appear to be intact and that there are no signs of engine failure, according to George Black, NTSB Boardmember.

[TheBigB]

Thanks. :)

[crystalk]

If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going!

[Robear]

That would be possible, but doesn't it seem unlikely that trained mechanics would pass an aircraft in inspection that later somehow loses both engines and tail section in flight. Sounds proposterous, really.

[FITZ]

I hope they can account for all the maintenance workers, even the new guy that didn't show back up to work yesterday.

[JRandomFreeper]

If it were up to the press they'd use knots per hour.

But would they rather use furlongs per fortnight?

I heard the briefing on the radio on my way home from work, and was truly shocked that one of the engines had not gutted itself, setting of the chain of events that led to the crash.

/john

[r9etb]

The tail section fell in the water, yet the engines fell on land. Which would you suppose came off the plane first. I don't know the aerodynamics of a falling aircraft engine, but it sounds like the tail section came off first.

Try this yourself: drop a rock and a piece of paper out your car window and see which one goes farther forward. Answer: the rock will. Drag will stop the paper almost immediately.

Now for "rock" substitute "engine" and for "paper" substitute "vertical stabilizer." The aerodynamics are roughly the same.

[shetlan]

"I'm listenin', I'm listenin'...mind wide open...haven't seen anything -solid- yet that sez sabotage, but you never know..."

Prior to takeoff there was a 30 minute "security" delay.

[rit]

If you assume they were heading in a horizontal direction at 250 knots, that there are 12 city blocks in a mile, and that there was neglible difference in wind effect on the two engines, then the second engine separated 2 seconds after the first.

Hmm. I was earlier corrected that the speed may have been closer to 200-> 220 knots. Presumably it was not horizontal when the engines separated. The weight is different between the frame and the engines and thus the trajectory path would be different, yet they landed within 2 blocks of the frame. That is the part I have trouble with. Makes me think the engines separated much closer to crash site.

[Sabertooth]

It wasn't a terrorist attack. The Taliban have been defeated.

I'm not ready to conclude one way or the other., but keep in mind...

The last Japanese soldiers of WWII didn't come out of their caves until the mid-1970s.

[ThreeOfSeven]

It wasn't a terrorist attack. The Taliban have been defeated.

Worry more about the sleepers here than the Taliban over there.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

14:28 PST NEW YORK (AP) --  The cockpit voice recorder from American Flight 587 indicates the pilots struggled to control the plane after a rattling was heard less than two minutes into takeoff, investigators reported Tuesday.

George Black Jr. of the National Transportation Safety Board gave no indication of what caused the "airframe rattling noise."

From takeoff to the end of the tape lasts less than 2 minutes, 24 seconds, Black said at a news conference.

The first portion of the flight to the Dominican Republic appeared normal, with the co-pilot at the controls. But 107 seconds after the plane had started its takeoff roll, a rattling was heard; 14 seconds later, a second rattle was audible, Black said.

Twenty-three seconds later -- after "several comments suggesting loss of control" -- the cockpit voice recording ends, he said.

The plane's second black box, the flight data recorder, was recovered Tuesday after a 24-hour hunt through a Queens neighborhood staggered by a double dose of tragedy. At least 262 people were killed when the plane crashed.

A source close to the investigation said that the NTSB was looking at whether the plane's engines failed after sucking in birds, a phenomenon that has caused severe damage to airliners in the past.

But Black said that an initial inspection of the engines found no evidence of a collision with a bird. He said a more detailed analysis still needs to be done.

REST OF ARTICLE:  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2001/11/13/national1704EST0773.DTL

[NixNatAVanG InDaBurgh]

Am I the only one who wants to know exactly who serviced and had access on the ground crew to that plane/engine on 11-11 and was the flight that crashed the first time it had been in the air since the ground crew worked on it ?

The short answer is...NO. Welcome to wonder-land.

[Harrison Bergeron]

I don't understand. The two mechanics who did the maintenance check the night before the crash, Achmed and Habibi, said everything checked out fine.

[Beenliedto]

I wish they'd use mph.

To my weak recollection, the only thing that is reported in statute miles is surface visibility... everything else is in nautical miles, except the outside ring of the airspeed indicator on my Mooney, which is in MPH, creating a constant state of confusion.

Think I better get a new ASI.

[michigander]

With all the people viewing your source, how can you keep your class? ;^)

[is_is]

Terrorism hurts the already hurting airline industry more than a mere acident....

[dawn53]

Prior to takeoff there was a 30 minute "security" delay.

I saw that too on a news banner on TV. What is a "security delay."

Does that mean the plane was delayed because it took longer to get people checked than they anticipated, or does it mean they had a threat about the plane?

[Positive]

I've read that the plane went belly up. The recorder also indicates that the co-pilot went to max power just before the crash.

How well are the engines attached for inverted flying while at max power? I wonder?

[LarryLied]

The last Japanese soldiers of WWII didn't come out of their caves until the mid-1970s.

So some people think.

[phasma proeliator]

"I read..."

Where?