AMERICAN AIRLINES NTSB to discuss findings about flight that crashed in N.Y.
Two groups are in disagreement over the accident.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 587 moved the plane's rudder back and forth, trying to control the climbing aircraft, not realizing he was sealing the grim fate of those on board.
First Officer Sten Molin was at the controls when the plane hit turbulence almost immediately after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport for the Dominican Republic on Nov. 12, 2001.
"Hang onto it, hang onto it," Capt. Edward States implored.
"Let's go for power, please," Molin said.
A second later came a loud bang, which investigators believe was the tail of the Airbus A300-600 breaking off. Then came the roar of air rushing against the aircraft and alarms sounding in the cockpit.
"What the hell are we into [inaudible]?" Molin said. "We're stuck in it."
States' last recorded words came five seconds later: "Get out of it! Get out of it!"
Dispute
Both Airbus Industrie, which manufactured the jetliner, and American Airlines, which trained Molin, agree that if he had taken his foot off the rudder pedal, the tail wouldn't have broken off, the plane wouldn't have plunged into a New York City neighborhood and 265 people wouldn't have died.
But Molin didn't know he was putting more pressure on the tail than it could bear. Why he didn't -- and who's to blame for that -- is the subject of a bitter fight between Airbus and American.
That dispute is expected to play out in public today when the National Transportation Safety Board meets to discuss its findings about the second-deadliest plane crash on U.S. soil.
According to investigators, Molin tried to steady the aircraft using pedals that control the rudder, a large flap on a plane's tail. When his initial movement failed, Molin tried again and again. His actions placed enormous stress on the tail.
American, the only U.S. airline to use that type of Airbus plane for passenger service, says Airbus didn't alert it to the danger of sharp rudder movements until after the crash. The airline also contends the Airbus A300-600 has uniquely sensitive flight controls that can cause more severe rudder movements than the pilot intends.