Free Republic

Friday, August 27, 2004 A captured al-Qaeda operative has told Canadian intelligence investigators that a Montreal man who trained in Afghanistan alongside the 9/11 hijackers was responsible for the crash of an American Airlines flight in New York three years ago. Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents were told during five days of interviews with the source that Abderraouf Jdey, a Canadian citizen also known as Farouk the Tunisian, had downed the plane with explosives on Nov. 12, 2001. The source claimed Jdey had used his Canadian passport to board Flight 587 and "conducted a suicide mission" with a small bomb...

NEW YORK — The crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in a quiet residential neighborhood nearly five years ago is subject to general maritime laws, a judge ruled Tuesday, allowing potentially higher damages for dozens of people who sued. U.S. District Judge Robert W. Sweet said it did not matter that the plane crashed on land in Queens, killing 260 people on the plane and five on the ground. He noted that the plane was on a 1,500-mile transoceanic flight to the Dominican Republic. "There can be no question that, but for the development of air travel, this trip —...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. aviation regulators on Friday ordered detailed rudder inspections and repairs, if necessary, of certain Airbus planes after the rudder of a Canadian passenger jet nearly fell off this month. The Federal Aviation Administration wants operators of the 112 European-made Airbus A310s and A300s registered to U.S. carriers to complete detailed rudder inspections within three months. The planes are flown primarily in the United States by cargo giant FedEx Corp. . American Airlines also operates some A300s. The tests include visual checks and a tap test, which is an audio analysis. FedEx said it expected to complete...

More Inspections For A300-600s? FRANCES FIORINO/NEW YORK An FAArequest for additional inspections of Airbus A300-600 vertical stabilizers could come as early as this week pending results of an evaluation of the aircraft's service history data now underway. At least five of six lugs, or attachment points, from American Airlines Flight 587 will undergo testing to further define sub-surface damage. The agency and Airbus are "working swiftly" to complete their review to identify -600s involved in "maneuver events or upsets" with unusually high lateral loads that may have damaged the composite tail, according to the FAA. Any "order" for inspection of...