Accident
On November 12, 2001, at approximately 0916:15 eastern standard time, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus Industrie A300-605R (registration N14053), crashed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, New York, shortly after departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport in Jamaica, New York. The flight was a regularly scheduled passenger service to Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Onboard were 2 flight crewmembers, 7 flight attendants, and 251 passengers. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a subsequent post-crash fire.
During the flight, the vertical stabilizer and rudder separated from the aircraft and were later found in Jamaica Bay, approximately one mile north of the main wreckage site. The engines also separated in flight and came to rest several blocks north and east of the crash site. All 260 occupants and five individuals on the ground were killed. The flight was conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 on an instrument flight rules flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
Official Findings
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause to be the in-flight separation of the vertical stabilizer as a result of loads beyond its ultimate design. These loads were created by the first officer's unnecessary and excessive rudder pedal inputs. Contributing to these inputs were characteristics of the Airbus A300-600 rudder system design and elements of the American Airlines Advanced Aircraft Maneuvering Program.