Originally Posted by
airsupport
After this terrible accident happened, and having previously seen these inspections, I still wonder if although the desperate actions of the Pilots that tragic day MAY have been what finally snapped it off, the composite structure may well have been degraded dangerously and nobody would have known.
http://www.ntsb.gov/events/2001/AA58..._materials.pdf
The NTSB did a full fractographic and electron microscope scan of the surface of the vertical stab and there was no dangerous level of fatigue observed.
Another aircraft in the AA fleet showed signs of disbonding, but this did not make it dangerous.
J.