Crash

How could my dad and brother survive without gravy with our Sunday dinner? Unfortunately the store cupboard was sadly lacking in anything resembling< “Bisto”, none the less myself and my little sister were strapped into the back of Mum’s car trying to find one of those little shops which my mum describes as “life savers” for the working mother where she could purchase some gravy granules and ensure that peace reigned at the Sunday dinner table. I should add at this stage my mother was heavily pregnant with my little brother.

I personally had no objection to this little excursion as it gave me the opportunity to get some sweets. Then again I was thinking I would probably get plenty of sweets at my friend Suzanne’s party which I was due to go to that afternoon. I was really looking forward to Suzanne’s party. All those different coloured balloons just waiting to be burst but little did I know that it was my “happiness balloon” which was about to be burst. Mum was driving along the road and was pulling into her little Filling Station lifesaver.

As we pulled across I saw a brown jeep heading towards us but it didn’t seem to be slowing down. I was strapped in the back passenger seat and my little sister Kathy was in her baby seat I could hear my mum shout but I am not sure what she said. She tried to make it to the car park but even Michael Schumacher would have found it impossible. I remember vividly seeing the lady driver of the other vehicle. Her face was white and her mouth was open and her eyes filled with fear. That split second seemed to last forever and was only interrupted by the wailing screech of brakes.

Time was once again frozen as my mind filled with questions-what would happen to my mum? -What would happen to my sister? -What would happen to me? All our lives were hanging on this frozen moment in time especially mine as the jeep was heading straight for the rear passenger door. The noise of metal striking erupted as pieces of the car door, the car pillar and a shower of glass made contact with my body. The front passenger seat came crashing backwards jamming my leg. Fortunately I was wearing my seatbelt otherwise I feel sure I would have gone either over my baby sister or straight through the window.

I suddenly had a flash back of my brother and I driving along the road at the edge of a ravine where there was no fence at the edge of the road and I was frightened of our car falling down the steep mountainside into the valley below. My brother reassured me and told me that all I had to do was brace myself. I grabbed his cyber pet ad clung desperately to it. I could feel wet fluid rolling down my face and the screams of my little sister with her eyes scrunched up as she screeched uncontrollably.

My mum was already out of the car at this stage and undoing our belts. I realised the fluid running down was in fact tears not blood. In the distance I could hear sirens blazing. As my mum continued to fumble with the seatbelts and try and extract my little sister and me from the car I saw a … smiling policewoman looking in at me. She offered me her hand but when I got out I realised I had forgotten my brothers cyber pet so I broke free from the policewoman’s grasp and grabbed it.

She then took me to the side of the pavement beside my mum and little sister and set us all on the adjoining wall. She reassured me that my mum, sister and I would all be okay. I began to shiver uncontrollably and my head started to spin and it was only then that I became aware of the gash on my leg. I just could not seem to get warm realising this a policeman came over and gave me his jacket whilst my mum phoned my dad and called him to the scene. I remember my mum crying, as she was concerned about my sister, her unborn child and myself.

The lady in the other car was very supportive and friendly but I was so glad when dad arrived and took us home. My mum was very keen to take me to hospital to have me checked out but I could not bear to be taken anywhere strange or to be parted from my family. I just wanted the warmth comfort and protection of our own home. When we got home mum and dad cuddled us on the settee and gave us a warm blanket with cups of steaming hot chocolate thankfully our next door neighbour who is a GP came and tended to us.

Thank goodness no one received any serious injury and my cuts and bruises soon healed. When I look back on the accident I feel very glad I had my seat belt on because otherwise my injuries would have been much worse and I am also glad my mum was driving a large heavy car which absorbed a lot of the impact but more than anything ever I realised something for the first time just how precious life is and that we should always try to enjoy each day.

Movies, like any creative effort, reflect the time and the place in which they are created. Both American History X and Crash clearly address the concept of the American Dream and the way that people choose to live their lives. While they share this concept, however, American History X is a much darker film that explores the many and varied forms of hate. Stereotypes, prejudices, and racism are so much a part of everyday life that children are literally taught these things at the dinner table. Crash, on the other hand, shows a diverse collection of Americans trying to live their lives.

Some of them are good and some are bad, but all are capable of change. The viewer ultimately takes away two things from these films. First, the viewer learns that the American Dream, as it is popularly perceived, is unachievable to most. Second, the viewer takes away the message that things are rarely what they seem. In the end, while neither film was a fun or “nice” film, both leave the viewer perhaps thinking a bit more about the American experience and how it is experienced by members of different races. American History X, Crash, and Racism American History X is a film about prejudices and racism.

According to Coury Turczyn, American History X is “the visceral meditation on American bigotry” (par. 6). Although this family seems to be a nice, “normal” suburban family, the children are being indoctrinated into the culture of hate by their father, who constantly denigrates members of other races. The film goes on to trace the actions of the members of this family in general, as well as the events that affect them. In particular, this film addresses the son who attempts to prevent his younger brother from becoming a neo-Nazi, just as he had been in the past.

In contrast, Crash is not necessarily a film about racism. Rather, it is a film that uses racism as a backdrop as it examines how actions have a ripple effect that go beyond race relations. The movie brings together groups of seemingly unrelated individuals who, through their racially motivated actions, become associated through crimes of passion and violence. Unlike the individuals in the movie American History X, however, permits the characters to find redemption through their actions. American History X

At the beginning of this film, Derek, Danny, and the rest of their family seem to be living the American Dream. They live in a nice house in the suburbs, with a beautiful mom, a firefighter dad, and two other siblings. In the evenings, they sit down together at the dinner table to eat and talk. However, it is in the middle of this apparent domestic bliss that problems lurk. The dinner conversation is really the pivotal place where the viewer can see the kind of intolerance that Derek and Danny are taught by their father, Dennis, by all counts is a ‘nice guy.

Dennis, the father, is a racist, as he demonstrates in his little spiel, and it becomes apparent to the viewer that being open-minded is not a plus in this family. During one of these dinner conversations, Derek and his father discuss affirmative action and Derek’s teacher Sweeney. Dennis complains about “affirmative blaction shit [driving him] up the fucking wall,” complaining that “rappers” who score lower than other fighters who have nearly perfect scores “walk away with the job” (American History X). Dennis also complains about all of the classic books that have been replaced by “black” books.

Even though Derek is very enthused by his teacher, his father warns him not to fall for the “nigger bullshit. ” When dad is then killed in the line of duty and by a black man, this clears the way for Derek to become recruited by the vulture named Cameron. Cameron preys on weak kids, like Derek, so that he can bring them into the white power movement. From that time forward, the family begins to deteriorate and continues until Derek is released from prison. Their living arrangement has become dismal. Mom is sickly. However, Derek has seen the light in prison so to speak and begins to turn his life around.

Director David McKenna explains clearly in an interview what he was trying to do with the movie. He explains that as a child he was aware of bigotry in his community, which influenced him to later write about people who possessed such beliefs. He comments that, the point he was trying to make with this movie “is that a person is not born a racist. It is learned through environment and the people that surround you” (Virtual Pew Daily). According to The Virtual Pew Daily, McKenna was intrigued by the question of why people hate. His theory that hate begins at home (Virtual Pew Daily) is tested in this film.

McKenna brings this theory to American History X by showing that the family that appears to have the American Dream by the tail before their father Dennis dies, in fact, does not. Things progressively worsen after his death. Eventually, Derek goes on to make speeches that seem to echo his father, to recruit new members to white supremacy. In one of these speeches, Derek talks about the famous inscription on the Statue of Liberty, which begins “Give me your tired, your hungry, your poor. ” Derek explains to his listeners that it’s Americans who are tired and hungry and poor.

And I say, until you take care of that, close the fucking book. ‘Cause we’re losing. We’re losing our rights to pursue our destiny. We’re losing our freedom. So that a bunch of fucking foreigners can come in here and exploit our country. It’s happening right here, right in our neighborhood, right in that building behind you” (American History X). This speech clearly shows how Derek’s view of his fellow Americans has been shaped by his father, in that his words nearly echo those spoken by his father at the dinner table. While Derek believes in the American Dream, he believes in it only for certain people, not for all people.

Derek makes false and broad generalizations about our country and people, which a lot of people believe even today. It is for this reason that these arguments work so well. McKenna uses his film to criticize this kind of hate. The symbol that he uses for hatred is the swastika, which becomes a twisted sort of cross once Derek gets out of prison. This film also shows how people tend to look at things in black and white, in what Siddens calls “role rigidity”. Derek’s worldview is rigidly black and white during everything leading up to prison; he is rigidly locked into a role that “permeates [his] life” .

In a not terribly subtle bit of symbolism, the film is done in black and white during this time. After Derek undergoes his transformation in prison, changing his role sufficiently to see people as individuals, the film becomes color as Derek’s world becomes color. His world becomes, in many ways, a lot less clear, a lot messier but better. Because McKenna both directed and filmed this movie, it cannot help but reflect his vision of the world. However, McKenna uses this film to make a good argument for his theses: that racism is prevalent in Middle America and that racism begins at home.

Crash The movie Crash, on the other hand, has a broader focus than American History X. Instead of focusing on a single set of related protagonists, Crash is a series of short vignettes that all intersect at some crucial point in order to make the viewer question his or her beliefs. Rather than being “merely” about racism, the movie Crash is also about the lack of human love that human beings show to each other. The director is apparently stating that his lack of human love springs from a lack of connectedness with each other.

As one of the characters, Graham, states at the beginning of the film: It’s the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L. A. , nobody touches you. We’re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something” (Crash). The plot of the movie Crash seems to be that people are not always what they appear to be on their surface. In America, through various racist acts, Americans are more likely to do harm to others than to do good.

Just as the viewer may be shocked by the portrayal of a firefighter in American History X, the viewer is also shocked by the . However, Crash is more about the understanding that develops between people and the redemption that can come from it. In American History X, Derek finally comes to understand true nature of a world that is neither all black nor all white. Unfortunately, by the time he does and begins to make amends, his brother Danny has to die. Some acts we simply cannot take back. Unlike this dismal fate, however, the characters of Crash show the viewer that we can all change our ways and find redemption.

Even when the viewer hates the character, the film takes us closer to help us understand why the character might have done what he or she did. The film provides us a glimpse in order to achieve empathy. Empathy and redemption are the main themes of the film. In some cases, the viewer’s stereotypes are proven true as in the case of this dialogue. At one point in the film, two young black men discuss their theory as to the people of the neighborhood fear them, coming to the conclusion that it is because they are “the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated white people, patrolled by the triggerhappy LAPD”.

According to the movie, Crash, everyone has prejudice. This prejudice is demonstrated in a conversation between Graham, a black man, and Ria, his Puerto Rican girlfriend. In this conversation, Ria angrily suggests that she will give Graham a “geography lesson,” stating that her father is from Puerto Rico and her mother is from El Salvador, neither of which is Mexico. Graham replies that he guesses that “the big mystery is, who gathered all those remarkably different cultures together and taught them all how to park their cars on their lawns” (Crash)

Steve Wessler, founder of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence notes that even stereotypes that are usually inside a person can eventually be aired. He is quoted as saying that: Even though such attitudes reside beneath the surface, they have the potential to bubble up–and progress from there. Stereotypes are not static. If you’re stereotyping a person of color in negative ways and not thinking of him or her as an individual, it makes it much easier to treat that person poorly.

I don’t think that I investigated a hate crime at a school that did not begin with the lower level of slurs and stereotypes and then escalated” (U. S. News) In its series of vignettes, Crash displays a cross-section of the American public, showing characters that range from rich and miserable to those who are family-oriented and poor. Not a single character in this movie remains unaffected by prejudice, either in his or her own behavior or in the events that are put into motion by the prejudice of others. Conclusion

Both American History X and Crash use racial prejudice as the motivating force for the actions of the plot. The manner in which they make use of this motivating force, however, is quite different. While American History X is a bleak film that speaks of the inevitability of the fate of prejudice reaching across the generations, Crash expresses the idea that human beings are capable of both empathy and redemption, no matter who the individual is or how flawed he or she might be. If anything, these films make the viewer question what the American dream really is and who is living it.

Both of them explore the issues of race, ethnicity and gender very well. Neither of these films shows much distinction between good and evil: everyone does good, and everyone does bad. Each one of us has both qualities inside of us and displays them at various points of our lives. Every person, no matter what he or she has done, is capable of love and redemption. This capability is what makes us human. The willingness to share this love and redemption, despite the race or ethnicity of those around us, is what it should mean to be American.

Works Cited

1. American History X. “Memorable Quotes.” IMdB. com. 1998. <http://www. imdb. com/title/tt0120586/>.
2. This listing on IMdB. com provides links to a variety of reviews from both professional reviewers and by individuals who wish to review the film American History X. In addition to reviews, the site also lists links to such items as “goofs,” trivia and memorable quotes that have been noted by these sources. Crash. IMdB. com. <http://www. imdb. com/title/tt0375679/>. 2005.
3. This listing on IMdB. com provides links to a variety of reviews from both professional reviewers and by individuals who wish to review the film Crash.In addition to reviews, the site also lists links to such items as “goofs,” trivia and memorable quotes that have been noted by these sources. Siddens, Paul J. “Using the Feature Film “American History X” to Teach Principles of Self-Concept in the Introduction to Interpersonal Communication Course. 2000. <http://www. eric. ed. gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/16/2d/1e. pdf>.
4. Turczyn, Coury. “History Lesson. ” 2005. <http://www. popcultmag. com/criticalmass/movies/1998/amhistoryx. html>. This web site provides a commentary about the movie Crash.
5. U. S. News and World Report. “Don’t Race to Judgment. ” 2007. <http://health. usnews. com/usnews/health/articles/051226/26spirit. race. htm>
6. This article provides some interesting connections between the movie Crash and real life. Virtual Pew Daily, The. Interview with David McKenna. 18 August 2007. <http://www. hollywoodjesus. com/american_history_x. htm>.
7. This site contains some very intriguing commentary about the movie and the symbols in it, complete with pictures explaining each stage Derek goes through. It also contains an interview with director David McKenna.

This paper examines the disaster of American Airlines flight 587 on November 12, 2001 in New York City. At least 265 people died in this tragedy making its one of the major disasters in modern aviation history. In the immediate aftermath of the accident, there were great fears that this could be another outcome of a terrorist attack on the U. S soil. Official investigations, however, quickly ruled out any terrorist involvement. Findings indicated that the weak wake turbulence caused by an airplane that took off slightly before flight 587 initiated an unfortunate chain of events that resulted in the catastrophe.

The final report of the NTSB held the faulty rudder control system design of Airbus A300-600, and the inadequate pilot training program of American Airlines to be chiefly responsible. In addition, the allegedly quirky response behavior of the first officer at the controls of the airplane is considered a critical factor. However, many people, common men and experts alike, are not convinced of the validity of the NTSB investigations. Introduction On the morning of November 12, 2001, Tom Lynch, a retired firefighter, is on Rockaway Beach Boulevard taking his regular morning exercise march.

He watches an airplane complete a banked turn and start towards the ocean. Then, all of a sudden, he sees a small explosion in the fuselage behind the wing. Two more seconds elapse and suddenly there is a second explosion, engulfing most of the plane in flames. It was the American Airlines Flight 587. Two months after 9/11 – this Airbus 300-600 left John F. Kennedy International Airport en route to Santa Domingo, the Dominican Republic. Less than three minutes after takeoff, the aircraft crashed in a blazing inferno in the heart of the neighborhood of Bell Harbor, Queens. All 251 passengers along with 9 crew members perished.

Most remarkably, only five people died on the ground. 44 fire trucks and 200 firefighters were rushed to the scene. Soon, the disaster of AA Flight 587 would be found not to be due to terrorism, but to mechanical failure. However, in the stark post 9/11 environment of the day, it was difficult for many people to believe that planes could still fall from the sky for reasons unrelated to terrorism. Feelings and fears were especially strong and these were exacerbated this fresh tragic event. As the author S. D. Manning (2003) put it, “This crash jarred a city (and a nation) still scarred and numb from the agony it has already endured”

The Investigation Tonight, American holds its collective breath, Prays this nightmare is due to mechanical failure, Not premeditated design. The sheer irony would shame Kafka – It’s not the disaster itself but its cause That bothers us, enslaves us to out TV’s; We pray that it’s something man-made, not man. – L. D. Brodsky. (2002). As the aircraft climbed from John F. Kennedy airport, some people on the ground saw an explosion and fire on the underneath side of the aircraft, which was quickly followed by parts falling off the aircraft, including the vertical stabilizer and rudder.

During the aircraft’s fall, engines came away from the wings. Falling separately, one engine landed on Beach 129th Street the other engine on Beach 126th. The plane then plunged to the ground on the narrow strip of land known as Rockaway, in Belle Harbor at Queens. The plane’s tail broke off and fell into Jamaica Bay, more than a mile from the primary crash site. Although a few stray remnants landed here and there, the fuselage and wings pounded into the home on the corner of Beach 131st Street and Newport Avenue. The plane’s impact, subsequent explosions, and fire destroyed other homes.

The rudder and the tail fin were found first along the flight path, followed by the engines and then the main wreckage. According to the NTSB, the tail fin and rudder of the plane sheared off as it accelerated. The aircraft began a climbing turn over Jamaica Bay when it encountered turbulence caused by the wake vortices generated by a Japan Airlines 747 that had taken off just one minute forty-five seconds earlier. Records from the flight data recorder later recovered from the crash site showed that the turbulence had cause movements of flight 587’s rudder, part of which, together with the vertical tail fin, became detached from the aircraft.

Control of the aircraft was lost and it fell from the sky. This was the second deadliest crash in US history, but it also, “was the first example where we had an in-flight failure of a major structural component of an aircraft that in fact was made of composite materials,” as NTSB Chairwoman Marion Blakley would assert later. From the outset, the investigation into the loss of the American Airlines aircraft was conducted on the premise that it was an accident. There seemed to be no immediate indication it was anything else, except for the numerous eyewitness accounts of fire and explosion just before the aircraft plummeted.

Officials were keen to reiterate that there was nothing to suggest any foul play had been involved in the loss of the aircraft. Coming so soon after the September 11th outrages, another terrorist assault in America would have been untenable and morally damaging. The President had declared war on terrorism. Congress had been actively involved in developing new legislation to contain the threat that al-Qaeda posed to civil aviation operations. The possibility of a terrorist strike seemed a little farfetched in the state of intensely heightened vigilance that the air transportation industry was in during the aftermath of 9/11.

Even if there was foul play involved, it could have been more of a sabotage than the explosion of a bomb. Though terrorism was suspected by everyone, it could not be substantiated. The main difficulty of associating the loss of AA587 with terrorism was the manner of its destruction. If the tail assembly did lie at the root of the problem, then sabotage when the aircraft was on the ground appeared a more likely scenario than a suitcase bomb or a suicidal passenger detonating a device on board the plane. Accident scenarios had to be explored first.

Marion Blakley said in an interview on CNN Newsnight on the day of the crash: One of the things that we’re very committed to doing is to have a full investigation from a system standpoint, mechanical standpoint, looking at the history of this flight, the crew, the human factors that may have been involved. Immediately following the loss of flight 587, a 40-strong NTSB Go Team under the Investigator-in-Charge Robert Benzon was sent to the site of the crash (NTSB News, 2001). As was the norm, their work was supported by other agencies and companies considered appropriate by the board.

The NTSB used the American Airlines facility at Tulsa for a detailed examination of the aircraft engines. No evidence was found of a fire, bird strike, or other pre-impact malfunction. The auxiliary power unit (used to power the aircraft when it is on the ground) was sent to Honeywell, its manufacturer. Nothing wrong was found with the unit. The tail fin and rudder assemblies underwent visual inspection in New York before being sent to the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Extensive preliminary tests at Langley sought to identify whether the vertical stabilizer and rudder had had any damage or faults before the accident. None were found. Although the flight data recorder indicated significant rudder movement before the crash, there was nothing to show why this had happened (NTSB News 2002). That both engines separated from the wings as the aircraft fell from a comparatively low height posed another question: Could the engines have been sabotaged, if not by an explosive device, then by some other means so far undetected by the NTSB investigators?

“Investigators suspect a catastrophic engine event as the likely cause of an airline crash Monday in New York,” went CNN. com’s headline on the very day of the accident. However, the primary focus of the investigation eventually shifted to the rudder system. The NTSB team flew to France to work with experts from Airbus Industrie, the aircraft’s manufacturer, at their headquarters in Toulouse. The purpose of this visit was to study at firsthand the mechanism of the rudder system and to simulate the pattern of the aerodynamic loads that may have affected the vertical stabilizer during the failure of flight 587.

If the investigators could not identify a possible mechanical or structural reason for the accident, they would have been left considering the impossible. Even though they may not have found any terrorist involvement in the loss of AA flight 587, in the absence any other demonstrable reason for the crash, terrorism would be back in focus. Flight History Flight 587 was an Airbus A300-600, Registration Number N14053. It took off from JFK International Airport at 9:14:29 A. M. on November 12, 2001 in clear weather conditions. At 0915:44.7, the captain Edward States asked, “little wake turbulence, huh? ” to which the first Officer, Sten Molin, replied, at 0915:45. 6, “yeah. ” At 9:15:51, when the plane was 2,000 feet and was over Jamaica Bay, the first officer initiated a series of emergency control inputs and called for the emergency “escape” maneuver. During the wake turbulence encounter, the airplane’s pitch angle increased from 9? to 11. 5? , decreased to about 10? , and increased again to 11?. At 9:16:01. 9, F. O. Molin was heard on ATC uttering “losing control.”

The airplane crashed 13 seconds later, it was airborne for less than 106 seconds. At 0915:58. 5, the CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder) recorded the sound of a loud bang. At that time, the airplane was traveling at an airspeed of about 251 knots. “Hang onto it, Hang onto it,” were the last words of the Captain Edward States, as recorded on the CVR The Crew Background The captain was 42 years of age and the first officer 34. They were hired by American Airlines in July 1985, and March 1991 respectively. The captain had 1,922 hours total flying

time in military and general aviation before his employment with American Airlines, and 8,050 hours total flying time thereafter which included 3,448 hours as pilot-in-command and 1,723 hours as a pilot-in-command for A300 specifically. His last proficiency check took place on June 21, 2001; and his last pilot-in-command line check occurred on July 31, 2001. He consumed alcohol sparingly and never during a time around his work schedule. According to a colleague, he was an extremely good pilot, very relaxed and competent.

The first officer had 3,220 hours total flying time in commercial and general aviation before his employment with American Airlines, and 4,403 hours total flying time, which included 1,835 hours as second-in-command for A300 specifically. Both the captain and the first officer had no FAA records that indicated any incident history or enforcement action. One pilot who worked with the first officer, however, described him as being “very aggressive” on the rudder pedals after a wake turbulence encounter. Except for that, his overall skills were described as excellent, and “well above the norm. ”

The 5M Concept

The 5M concept is a risk assessment tool used to graphically illustrate how the dynamic interaction of the man, the machine and the media (that is, environment) converge to produce either a successful mission or if unsuccessful, a mishap. Man-category encompasses aircrew members, their training, selection, proficiency, habit patterns, performance, and personal factors. Factors under “performance” heading include awareness, perceptions, saturation, distraction, channelized attention, stress, confidence, adaptive skills, and fatigue (physical, motivational, sleep deprivation, circadian rhythm, klutz).

“Personal factors” include job satisfaction, values, families/friends, command/control, discipline (internal and external), and communication skills. The Machine-category encompasses the various design, maintenance, logistics, and other technical data related to the aircraft. The Media is the environment in which aircrew fly and includes factors and forces that are related to climactic, operational, hygienic conditions. The fourth category is the management. Management regulates standards, procedures, and controls.

The interaction between the 4M’s Man, Media, Machine, and Management determine the desired outcome, or the Mission. When outcome fails to meet anticipated goals, these 5 M’s must be thoroughly reassessed (Civil Air Patrol). The Shell Model The factors that affect the outcome of each flight can be assessed under the SHELL Model: Software, Hardware, Environment, Liveware (outer ring) and Liveware (inner ring). Software is what makes the system work, and includes guidelines, regulations, operation specifications, and company policy and procedures.

Hardware is the physical equipment that is necessary for a flight to operate. The category “Environment” relates to the broad external context that can affect the flight or the pilot, and includes factors such as weather, g-forces, and ambient light. Liveware represents the human factors. The outer ring includes air traffic controllers, flight service briefers, dispatchers, other crewmembers, pilots of other aircraft, flight attendants.

The inner ring is the most important part of the SHELL model and includes various variables affecting the competence and performance of the pilots (Shields 2002). The NTSB Findings The NTSB officials very early on in the investigation suggested the cause of the crash might be due to wake turbulence from an aircraft that departed earlier. However, many experts doubted that the light turbulence from such an encounter would register on the scale of the type of extreme turbulence that aircraft undergo from atmospheric disturbances such as in the vicinity of thunderstorms.

Commercial jets are built to withstand forces up to 2. 5 G-forces, while the turbulence that hit the plane was one tenth of a G-force — barely strong enough to be even noticed (Dyer 2002). The Board then suggested that the composite vertical stabilizer may be faulty. However, this does not address the numerous reports of reliable witnesses, such as policemen and firemen, concerning fire and explosions coming from the aircraft before the vertical stabilizer ripped from the aircraft.

Finally, after three years of investigations, National Transportation and Safety Board stood by its wake turbulence hypothesis. However, it was only a triggering event. The report, under the heading “Probable Cause” placed most of the blame on the first office for his “unnecessary and excessive rudder pedal inputs. ” It goes on to say, “Contributing to these rudder pedal inputs were characteristics of the Airbus A300-600 rudder system design and elements of the American Airlines Advanced Aircraft Maneuvering Program” (NTSB 2004).

The NTSB’s conclusion was that the cause of the crash was the tail separating from the fuselage, which happened as a result of pilot placing loads on the tail that exceeded its ultimate limit – which in turn was an outcome of pilot’s rudder movements. He put excessive pressure on the rudder pedal in response to the wake turbulence caused by the JAL flight that preceded them. But why did the pilot move the rudder pedals as aggressively as he did? This became an issue of great controversy.

The NTSB report dwells on the previously observed tendency of the first officer to place inappropriate pedal inputs, which in tandem with two other reasons, the deficient pilot training system and the defective Airbus rudder control system, resulted in a colossal disaster: The Safety Board’s investigation determined that three main factors influenced the first officer’s rudder use during the accident sequence: a tendency to react aggressively to wake turbulence, as evidenced by his responses to previous wake turbulence encounters; his pilot training, including the training he received at American Airlines regarding wake turbulence, upset recovery, and rudder pedal use; and the characteristics of the A300-600 rudder control system. (NTSB 2004)

These findings resulted in a mammoth row between Airbus and American Airlines is –– with Airbus contending that the first officer’s inappropriate response caused because of his improper training by American Airlines, and the American Airlines contending the Airbus’ rudder pedal system unusually sensitive.

The NTSB Recommendations

The NTSB report discusses several safety issues relevant to the Flight 587 disaster, focusing on characteristics of the A300-600 rudder control system design, A300-600 rudder pedal inputs at high airspeeds, aircraft-pilot coupling, flight operations at or below an airplane’s design maneuvering speed, and upset recovery training programs. Airbus Industrie and American Airlines have acted upon industry-wide amendments to ensure safety of operation of aircraft.

American Airlines continue to operate the Airbus A300, Airbus are confident of the structural and functional integrity of their plane – although many AA pilots and those of other airlines sought transfer to supposedly much more stable Boeing airplanes in the wake of the disaster. Conclusion New Yorkers may be resilient, But they have their breaking points, And they must be getting close to them. Like all of us, they want to believe That something like a shorting wire, Exploding fuel tank, or malfunctioning turbofan Is the reason at least 265 perished in Queens. – L. D. Brodsky. (2002).

The biggest unresolved issue in this entire tragic episode of Flight 587 crash were the flames and the explosions noted by over 50% of over 400 witnesses. In its report, the NTSB attributes them to either an “initial release of fuel” or the “effects of engine compressor surges. ” Both of them could have been caused due to out-of-control motion during the airplane’s precipitous descent. However, one must remember that the airplane had just took over and was not at a great height, and most importantly that the witnesses observed the fire before anything else happened.

In effect, the fire could not have been set off during the descent and as a result of the descent. Most of the witnesses are unequivocal about it and stand vehemently by their testimony to this day. Many quarters have felt that the NTSB prematurely declared the crash to be an accident and hastily concluded that the tail separation was the initiating event without adequate analysis of all the evidence, and especially without giving proper credence to witness testimony – and later went on to bolster its convenient preconceived notions.

Today, claims of NTSB cover-up and conspiracy theories pointing to terrorist involvement abound around this subject – making the tragedy of flight 587 a lingering mystery.

References:

Brodsky, L. D. (2002). Shadow War: A Poetic Chronicle of September 11 and Beyond, Volume Two. St. Louis, Missouri : Time Being Books Civil Air Patrol. Civil Air Patrol Guide to Operational Risk Management. Retrieved 3 March 2007 from www. orwg. cap. gov/Safety/CAPguidetoORM. pdf Dyer, N. (2002). The Mystery of Flight 587?

What Caused the Crash of Flight 587? Science World. Feb 25 2002. Retrieved 3 March 2007 from http://www. findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m1590/is_10_58/ai_83667600

Manning, S. D. (2004). American Dream, A Search for Justice. New York : A&M Publishing NTSB News (2001).

American Airlines Flight 587. National Transportation and Safety Board. 12 November 2001. Retrieved 3 March 2007 from http://www. ntsb. gov/events/2001/AA587/default. htm  NTSB News. (2002).

Fourth Update on NTSB Investigation into Crash of American Airlines Flight 587. National Transportation and Safety Board. January 15, 2002. Retrieved 3 March 2007 from http://www. ntsb. gov/Pressrel/2002/020115. htm NTSB. (2004).

Aircraft Accident Report. National Transportation and Safety Board. October 26, 2004. Retrieved 3 March 2007 from http://www. ntsb. gov/publictn/2004/AAR0404. pdf Shields. J. (2002).

SHELL Model. Josh’s Little Aviation Place on the Web. Retrieved 3 March 2007 from http://people. aero. und. edu/~jshields/CRM/shell_model. htm