American Airlines Flight 587

American Airlines Flight 587 losing its rudder in wake turbulence

American Airlines Flight 587, a Airbus A300B4-605R, was "a regularly scheduled international passenger flight" from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Las América's International Airport in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic. On 12 November 2001, the Airbus A300B4-605R flying the route crashed shortly after takeoff into the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens, a borough of New York City. All 260 people aboard the plane (251 passengers and nine crew members) were killed. Now, because the crash occurred just two months and one day after the 11 September attacks in New York, the whole city went into a panic. The Empire State Building and the United Nations Headquarters were all evacuated. People went crazy. Some months after the crash, rumors spread that it was another terrorist plot. With a Shoe Bomber at the core, just like Richard Reid, the person responsible for the ( attempted) shoe bombing onboard American Airlines flight 63. News Stations all over the States said this. Until later, when the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) conducted a investigation, it was apparent that a terrorist attack was NOT the reason.

Who should we blame? well, human error and just plain nature. This aircraft crashed because of... *Drumroll, please* ...

WAKE TURBULENCE.

Wake turbulence is just deadlier turbulence that is behind a aircraft. Big or small. Here is the exact definition:

" Wake turbulence is a disturbance in the atmosphere that forms behind an aircraft as it passes through the air. It includes various components, the most important of which are wingtip vortices and jet wash. Jet wash refers simply to the rapidly moving gases expelled from a jet engine; it is extremely turbulent, but of short duration. Wingtip vortices, on the other hand, are much more stable and can remain in the air for up to three minutes after the passage of an aircraft. It is therefore not true turbulence in the aerodynamic sense, as this would be chaotic. Instead, it refers to the similarity to atmospheric turbulence as experienced by an aircraft flying through this region of disturbed air."

Yeah, yeah, pretty long. But anyways, American Airlines 587, at 9:13 AM, was at Kennedy airport, getting cleared for takeoff, like, right behind this crazy big JAL (Japan Air Lines) Boeing 747. Despite the warnings the Air Traffic Controllers advice on slowing down the takeoff run and waiting just a few, American Airlines 587 took off from Kennedy airport at 9:15. It was a super quick takeoff.

Also at 9:15, American Airlines 587's captain, Mr. Ed States, contacted the departure controller, informing him that the airplane was at 1,300 feet (which is equal to 400 m) and climbing to 5,000 feet (equal to 1,500 m). The departure controller instructed the aircraft to climb to and maintain 13,000 feet (equal to4,000 m).

Data from the flight data recorder (FDR) showed that the events leading into the crash began at 9:15:36, where the aircraft hit the wake turbulence from the JAL Boeing 747, which was directly in front of them. In response to the turbulence, first officer Sten Molin (Which is the pilot flying at that time.) alternated between moving the rudder from the left to the right and back again in quick succession for at least 20 seconds, until at 9:15, when the stress caused the lugs that attached the vertical stabilizer and rudder to fail. The stabilizer (Not the whole aircraft) separated FROM the aircraft and fell into the Jamaica Bay, about one mile north of the main wreckage site. Eight seconds later, the stall warning sounded on the cockpit voice recorder. (Oh, noes)

At the moment the stabilizer separated from the aircraft, the plane pitched downwards, headed straight for Belle Harbor. As the pilots struggled to control the aircraft, it went into a flat spin, which is a spin in which an aircraft descends in tight circles while remaining almost horizontal. The resulting aerodynamic loads sheared both engines from the aircraft seconds before impact. The engines landed several blocks north and east of the main wreckage site. The loss of engines cut power to the FDR at 9:16, while the CVR (cockpit voice recorder), using a battery backup, cut off at 9:16:15, moments before impact with the ground. The main wreckage sight of American Airlines flight 587 was the intersection of Newport Avenue and Beach 131st Street.

Ah. What a tragic story. I almost cried from the documentaries. (Posted below) Back then, most of the flights form the United States to the Dominican Republic were all by American Airlines. When flight 587 crashed, about 90% of the passengers were of Dominican descent.

A peaceful memorial was built in in Rockaway Park, Belle Harbor's neighboring community. Super close to the crash site. It was built in 2006, the fifth anniversary of the crash. Every November 12, people gather around, and have a moment of silence at 9:16, the estimated time of the crash. Small fact: The memorial was designed by a Dominican Republic artist.

Do you understand how deadly wake turbulence really is? Do you understand why your flight always waits 10 minutes? Wake turbulence is super deadly, and, still, sometimes planes still crash from them. But sadly, there is nothing we can do about it.

Here are some links you should view. It is animation. You can view the documentary by typing this: "American Airlines flight 587 documentary" onto the search bar in YouTube

* All video and Image credits go to National Geographic*