AMR 587 accident.
GlueBall,
All of Captain Lavelle's statements re. co-pilot Sten Molin's pilot abilities are completely irrelevant! Sten did not have control of the rudders!
The 0.3 and 0.4G rotating vortices striking the rudders, broadside, alternately on one side and then the other, severed the linkages to the rudder actuators. (No linkages attached to the actuators, in the haul out pictures, of the vertical stabilizer)
The final 0.8G force striking the vertical stabilizer broadside, initiated an instantaneous left Yaw, which created an abrupt left Dutch Roll into the ground.
The extreme inertia forces involved in the instantaneous left Yaw, tore off both engines from their support structures and the tail from its attachment Lugs.
Although there was evidence that Sten applied a full right aileron input to counter the steep left bank, there is no evidence that he applied any right rudder, to assist in the attempted recovery maneuver! There was no rudder input available!
This is the first accident, of this type, in 100 years of flight! (A perfect formation join-up on the center of a horizontal tornado, the left wing tip vortex of the B747 "Heavy".)
Last edited by wsherif1; 4th Apr 2004 at 16:18.