US investigators order checks on Airbus tailfins

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from ananova.com. .. . </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">The US Federal Aviation Administration has ordered checks on the tailfins of some Airbus jets after a New York crash last November which killed 265 people.. .. .The crash happened when the American Airlines 300-600 plummeted to earth just minutes after taking off from John F Kennedy Airport.. .. .Accident investigators have discovered that the rudder of the jet moved so quickly from side to side that the plane "fishtailed" and plunged out of control.. .. .The FAA has ordered ultrasound tests on the tailfins of any A300-600s which have experienced unusual loads during their flying careers. If it finds problems with the tailfins, it will order similar tests on the more modern Airbus A310s.. .. .All US carriers with Airbus A300-600s are affected by the order, although only American Airlines flies passenger versions of the jet, while other carriers use them for cargo flights.. .. .The move came after American Airlines engineers found that an A300-600 which had come close to crashing in 1997 had suffered damage to its tailfin, made of composite material rather than metal.. .. .The plane had experienced severe gyrations in the air as it approached Fort Lauderdale Airport in Florida and two people were injured as the plane pitched and rolled for 34 seconds before the pilots regained control.. .. .When engineers re-examined the plane in the wake of last year's crash, they discovered that one of the six lugs which hold the fin, or vertical stabiliser, to the fuselage had been nearly ripped lose during the incident.. .. .The plane had been seriously overloaded when it came close to crashing.. .. .Story filed: 15:22 Tuesday 12th March 2002</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">

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quote ...... .. ."The plane had been seriously overloaded when it came close to crashing.. .. .what does this statement mean????

[SaturnV]

Excerpts from articles in today's Ney York. .Times and Washington Post on the vertical. .stab inspections. The context for 'overloading'. .is given.. .. .WASHINGTON, March 11 - Investigators looking into the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in Queens last Nov. 12 said today that they had discovered "indications of damage" in the tail of another plane of the same model - an Airbus A300 -that was involved in an in-flight accident near West Palm Beach, Fla., five years ago. . .. .The West Palm Beach incident occurred on May 12, 1997, and the safety board blamed it on the crew's failure to maintain adequate airspeed. That Airbus A300 went into a severe bank, and then a series of oscillations for about 34 seconds dropping to 13,000 feet from 16,000 feet. A passenger was seriously injured and a flight attendant was slightly injured, according to a board report.. .. .A visual inspection of the plane after the incident found no damage, and it has been in regular service ever since.. .. .The Federal Aviation Administration said that it would probably order the tails taken off some other Airbus A300's for inspections. The agency order will cover other A300's that have faced unusual stresses, said Alison Duquette, a. .spokeswoman. The agency could not say this afternoon how many that would be; industry experts speculated that it would be a small number. American, which has 34 of the aircraft, said it would comply. . .. .An ultrasonic inspection of the plane in the Florida accident, which was carried out after the Queens crash, found "an indication of damage (possible delamination)," according to the board. Delamination is when the layers of the composite separate. The damage was in the area where the vertical fin connects to the fuselage.. .. .Airbus said in a statement said the plane in the Florida accident showed damage to one of the six attachment points, but noted that the airplane was certified as safe to fly even with one attachment point completely disconnected. . .. .The Safety Board did not characterize the significance of the discovery. Airbus, the manufacturer, said it was good news, because the damage was small even though the plane had sustained greater lateral forces than it was designed for. The tail could have safely continued in service indefinitely, the manufacturer said, but it will now be replaced. . .. .David Venz, a spokesman for Airbus, said that the small amount of damage found was "a testimony to the strength that's built into the design, to carry the loads exerted on that airplane." . .. .After the Queens crash, the F.A.A. ordered a visual inspection of Airbus A300's. Advocates of composites say that any internal damage severe enough to cause a problem would be visible from the outside. Ultrasonic inspection is not generally performed on aircraft in service.. .. .Of United States carriers, only American uses the A300 in passenger service. Federal Express and United Parcel Service also fly the plane.. .__________________________________________________. .The FAA said it might also extend the inspection to another class of Airbus aircraft, the A310, if sufficient problems are found in the A300-600 fleet. . .. .The inspection, in line with Airbus recommendations, was prompted by new evidence that an in-flight upset of another A300-600 in 1997 nearly ripped lose one of the six lugs holding the vertical stabilizer to the fuselage.. .. .In the 1997 incident, an American Airlines A300-600 experienced severe gyrations in the air as it approached Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at 16,000 feet on May 12, 1997. Two people were injured, and investigators determined at the time that the pilots mishandled the plane. First, they. .disconnected the autothrottle, which automatically keeps the engines running at a level to maintain sufficient speed. Then they mishandled the recovery when the plane slowed and stalled. The aircraft went through a series of. .severe pitch, yaw and roll movements for 34 seconds.. .. .American Airlines mechanics in Tulsa reexamined the tail of the Fort Lauderdale plane following the New York crash and found damage that had previously gone undetected. The vertical tail fin has been removed from that plane and will not be used again, although it technically still meets. .certification standards.. .. .Sources said investigators were somewhat surprised to learn of the heavy aerodynamic loads placed on the tail of the A300-600 involved in the Fort Lauderdale incident -- 165 percent of "limit load.". .. .Aircraft manufacturers set two load limits for new aircraft -- "limit load," which is what the plane could be expected to take with no damage or danger. "Ultimate load" is set at 150 percent of limit load, and is the point at which damage might be expected.. .. .New computer tools developed in the New York crash. .enabled investigators to use flight data recorder information to more accurately determine the load on the Fort Lauderdale plane. It turned out to be greater than estimated at the time.

[SaturnV]

6 Airbus Jets to Have Special Tail Inspections. .. .March 16, 2002 . .. .By MATTHEW L. WALD. .New York Times. .. .WASHINGTON, March 15 - Looking for damage to the tails of Airbus airplanes like the one that crashed in Queens on Nov. 12, American and French aviation experts have selected six planes around the world for detailed inspection because they experienced unusual strains in flight. . .. .Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration said it would soon order that certain Airbus models must be inspected before they fly again if they are subjected to strong sideways forces in flight. . .. .Of the six Airbus planes to be inspected, two are. .A300-600's owned by American Airlines, the same model that crashed shortly after takeoff from Kennedy International Airport after the vertical part of the tail fell off. . .. .Today, American said it had finished inspecting one of the two jets and had found no sign of damage; the company planned to inspect the other this weekend. . .. .A different American A300-600 that briefly lost control on a flight in May 1997 was recently found to have some damage to the vertical section of the tail, though Airbus said that even with the damage, the plane was safe to fly. . .. .After the crash, the F.A.A. ordered visual inspections of other A300- 600's, but the six selected planes are to be examined using ultrasound equipment. That requires removing the tails, an unusual procedure. The inspection will take several days for each plane. . .. .Les Dorr, a spokesman for the agency, said that the other jets to be inspected belong to Federal Express; Air France; Tarom, the Romanian airline; and the German air force. The German plane originally belonged to an East German airline,. .Interflug. . .. .The planes, A300's and A319's, were selected jointly by the F.A.A.; its French equivalent, the Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile; the National Transportation Safety Board, which is handling the investigation of Flight 587; and Airbus. . .. .Mr. Dorr said that the agency planned to publish a new rule, probably late next week, requiring inspection of planes that experience strong side-forces. . .. .Such forces are typically measured in units called G's, with 1 G equal to the force of gravity. The plane that crashed experienced sideways loads of up to 0.4 G, according to the safety board. . .. .The F.A.A.'s new rules will require that planes. .experiencing forces of at least 0.3 G but less than 0.35 G have a detailed visual inspection before further flight. . .. .The inspection would include wings, engine supports and rudder hinges. The airline would submit a report to Airbus and within 30 days, Airbus would recommend what to do next.. .. .If the load was more than 0.35 G, the airplane would be grounded until Airbus decided what was required. . .. .The F.A.A. is also trying to resolve a contradiction between new advice to pilots on how and when to use the rudder, and existing instructions on what to do if a control panel warning indicates that the landing gear has. .not locked into place. . .. .On Feb. 8, the safety board warned pilots of all makes of jet airliners that pushing hard on the rudder in alternating directions could overstress the tail. But since then, pilots of Airbus models have noted that their operating manuals, written by Airbus and approved by the F.A.A., call for doing exactly that if the landing gear appears to be stuck. . ._______________________________________. .American Finds No Problems on Airbus. .. .By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. .. .March 17, Filed at 10:43 p.m. ET. .. .FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- No problems with side-to-side movements like those experienced by doomed American Airlines Flight 587 were found on the tail of a second Airbus A300-600 owned by the. .airline, company officials said Sunday.. .. .The voluntary ultrasonic test was conducted by the Fort Worth carrier after the Federal Aviation Administration last week said it would require. .inspections of the Airbus jetliners.. .. ."We look forward to returning these two aircraft to service after they complete their scheduled maintenance base visits,'' said Dan Huffman,. .American's senior vice president of maintenance and engineering.