NTSB and Rudders
@#$%&, Forget the Rudder!!!
The pilots never had a chance to induce any effective recovery control inputs! The clockwise rotating vortices off the left wing tip of the B747 struck the vertical tail surfaces, fin and the rudder, BROADSIDE, at a force of 200 + mph, which induced an instantaneous left yaw. This abrupt yaw motion initiated a left Dutch roll. An eye witness statement, "The right wing was perpendicular to the ground"!
The instantaneous left yaw severed both engines from the structure and accelerated them directionally, the right engine was tossed to the left of the aircraft's track and the left engine to the right of the track.
The instantaneous left yaw presented the right side of the fin and the rudder to the slipstream plus the force of the vortices. These abrupt opposite direction bending forces exceeded the ultimate load factor of the surfaces and the rudder was torn off the structure while the fin was sheared off just above the lug connections.
The rudder movements were a result of the forces of the B747's vortices striking the rudder. These lateral forces began at a value of 0.1G through 0.3 and 0.4G to a final value of 0.8G as the aircraft encountered the fringes of the vortex and then closed on the core.
At one point the Captain exclaimed "wake turbulence". Pilots sure as hell know when we have encountered wake turbulence!
To intimate that he was mistaken is a disservice to the crew and the profession.
There is some question about an early T/O release of AA 587 behind the B747 and also the routing directly in trail of the preceding traffic.
In any case there is no way this accident was in any way connected with pilot error!