Quote:
Originally Posted by HardDrive
I know. The quote still bugs me. It seems absurd that a pilot could provide inputs to a modern commercial and cause a catastrophic failure while simply trying to maintain level flight.
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The vertical stabilizer of the American Airlines plane had previously suffered damage during a maintenance procedure which resulted in an imperfect repair on the carbon-fiber part of the stabilizer by American's mechanics. This was mentioned in the days after the 2001 crash but was quickly stifled. I assume that Airbus and American Airlines wanted pilot error to be the cause--it's the cheapest alternative--and that's where it settled.
If a pilot can 'stomp' on the rudder pedals hard enough to cause structural failure of the vertical stabilizer then that implies, to the educated observer, that something in the design is flawed. Airplanes are designed to sustain such abuse, and worse, so the NTSB's contention that the copilot erred in applying excessive rudder inputs and caused the stab to separate is, frankly, shocking.