The American Airlines disaster you are referring to is likely American Airlines Flight 587. Here are the details of the crash:
Date: November 12, 2001
Location: Belle Harbor, Queens, New York City, New York, USA
Flight Details: The flight was en route from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Aircraft: Airbus A300B4-605R
Timeline of the Crash:
- The aircraft took off at 9:14 AM EST.
- Just three minutes after takeoff, the plane encountered turbulence from a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 that had taken off ahead of it.
- The first officer, who was at the controls, made aggressive rudder inputs to counter the turbulence, leading to excessive stress on the vertical stabilizer.
- At 9:16 AM EST, the vertical stabilizer separated from the aircraft, causing the aircraft to lose control.
- The plane crashed into the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens, disintegrating upon impact and causing a massive fire.
Casualties:
- All 260 people on board (251 passengers and 9 crew members) perished.
- Five people on the ground were also killed.
Cause of the Crash:
- The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of the accident was the first officer’s excessive use of rudder controls, which led to the structural failure of the vertical stabilizer.
- Contributing factors included inadequate training on the Airbus A300’s rudder system and the characteristics of wake turbulence.
The disaster was a tragic event and remains one of the deadliest aviation accidents in U.S. history.
