Originally Posted by
bubbers44
I do not think you could put enough rudder into an A300 to rip the engines off. The vertical stab must have done it. It probably was separating from the aircraft causing the gyroscopic forces on the engines to make them separate from the aircraft. Wake turbulence normally does not cause much yaw and is easily corrected by aileron. Has there ever been a wake turbulence upset causing extreme yaw? I have never encountered one.
What you're describing are the precise conclusions of the investigations - the rudder reversal induced vertical stab separation, which induced yaw and spin, which induced engine separation.
Originally Posted by
TowerDog
Keep in mind the A-300-600 that crashed had the vertical tail damaged at the Airbus factory before delivery to AA.
Perhaps a factor in the accident....?
Got a link handy for that? 'Tis the first I've heard of it. I think there was some disbonding, but that was unrelated to the failure and could be considered normal wear and tear.