What happened
On the morning of November 12, 2001, American Airlines flight 587 was performing a scheduled departure from John F. Kennedy International Airport in Jamaica, New York, bound for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The aircraft, an Airbus Industrie A300-605R with registration N14053, was operating under instrument flight rules in visual meteorological conditions.
Shortly after the aircraft departed the runway, the vertical stabilizer and rudder became detached from the fuselage during flight. The components were later located in Jamaica Bay, approximately one mile north of the primary impact zone. Following this structural failure, the aircraft's engines also separated from the airframe and were recovered several blocks north and east of the main debris field.
The aircraft subsequently struck a residential neighborhood in Belle Harbor, New York. The impact and a subsequent fire destroyed the plane and caused significant destruction on the ground. The accident resulted in 260 fatalities among the passengers and crew, as well as 5 fatalities among residents on the ground.
Findings
Investigations into the accident focused on the structural failure of the tail section, specifically noting that the vertical stabilizer and rudder separated from the aircraft during the initial climb phase.