AIRLINER CRASH
November 13, 2001

The cockpit voice recorder suggests American Airlines Flight 587 had mechanical problems after takeoff.

 

Nov. 13, 2001: RealAudio: New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Governor George Pataki Nov. 12, 2001: Three experts analyze competing theories. Nov. 12, 2001: RealAudio: President Bush and former South African President Nelson Mandela. Nov. 12, 2001: RealAudio: New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Governor George Pataki Nov. 12, 2001: RealAudio: NTSB Chairwoman Marion Blakey. Nov. 12, 2001: RealAudio: American Airlines CEO Donald Carty. Nov. 12, 2001: RealAudio: White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer on the crash.   American Airlines Web site (with information on Flight 587)	KWAME HOLMAN: Shortly after flight 587 went down, federal investigators began to focus on possible mechanical failure, not terrorism. Witnesses reported the Airbus 300 lost an engine and other pieces after takeoff from Kennedy Airport. The wreckage rained down across Jamaica Bay and the Rockaway section of Queens. Federal investigators quickly recovered the cockpit voice recorder, and last night, the National Transportation Safety Board said what they heard on it bolstered their working theory that the crash was an accident.
	The recording's details
	GEORGE BLACK, NTSB: There's no evidence on it to indicate a problem not associated with an aviation accident. It is good quality data or voice quality, and it starts at the gate. The other thing that... The only other obvious thing is that the pilot flying was the first officer, which is not unusual because the captain and the first officer usually take turns flying legs of their trips. KWAME HOLMAN: This afternoon, the NTSB's George Black had a more detailed account of what was heard on the cockpit recording. GEORGE BLACK: The first portion of the flight appeared normal. The co-pilot was flying the leg. At 107 seconds after the start of the take-off roll, an airframe rattling noise was heard. The captain makes a comment about wake encounter at 114 seconds after the start of the takeoff roll. That would have been seven seconds later. A second airframe rattling sound was heard at 121 seconds after the start of the takeoff roll. The copilot calls then at 125 seconds after the start of the roll for max power. There are several comments suggesting loss of control of the aircraft at 127 seconds after the takeoff roll initiation, and the cockpit voice recording ends at 144 seconds after the start of the takeoff roll.
	Engine trouble
	KWAME HOLMAN: Today, investigators found the plane's other black box, the flight data recorder, and are analyzing it. They also were looking into past problems with General Electric engines like the ones on Flight 587. The NTSB warned less than a year ago that the engines could fail in flight and send hot metal fragments ripping into control systems. There also was the possibility the engines failed after sucking in birds, a long-standing problem at Kennedy Airport. GEORGE BLACK: There was no evidence on initial inspection of the engines... Of any kind of foreign object damage including a bird. We'll have to await further examination of the engines at teardown in the hangar to completely analyze the -- the condition of the engines and any part they might have played in the accident. KWAME HOLMAN: Meanwhile, New York Mayor Rudolph Guiliani said search crews recovered 262 bodies-- all 260 people on the plane and two people killed on the ground. Several others were missing.