The following report was published on a local NYC radiostation website this morning.
Mar 20, 2003 5:43 am US/Eastern
(AP) (NEW YORK) Airplane manufacturer Airbus says in court papers that American Airlines is to blame for "improper" flight operations that caused the 2001 crash of Flight 587 in Queens, which claimed the lives of 265 people.
"American Airlines failed to operate the aircraft in the manner that was foreseeable and normal or intended by Airbus," Airbus said in court papers filed this month in Manhattan federal court, the New York Post reported in Thursday editions.
"Nothing Airbus did or failed to do caused the accident or any harm or injury to the plaintiffs," the court papers say, referring to the victims of the crash.
An Airbus A300-600 crashed on Nov. 12, 2001, minutes after taking off for the Dominican Republic, killing all of 260 people on board and five people on the ground in the Queens neighborhood of Belle Harbor.
More than 200 legal suits from victims' families have since been filed against American and Airbus.
American Airlines spokesman John Hotard told the Post that Airbus' position was "ridiculous."
The National Transportation Safety Board is still examining why the plane's rudder suddenly began swerving violently, causing the tail fin to break off and the plane to crash.
At a Washington hearing last year, the NTSB presented evidence suggesting the co-pilot moved the rudder back and forth after encountering turbulence from a jet five miles ahead. But it is also investigating whether there was a problem with the rudder itself.
It said it may reach some conclusions by this spring.
http://wcbs880.com/topstories/topsto...079054436.html