I
was interviewed by The WAVE last week and asked to comment
on my article
about the timeline of American Airlines Flight 587 I had compiled
based
solely on NTSB, FAA, and Radar data. I had posted this article
along with
all the other coverage at http://usread.com related to Flight
587. You are
welcome to all the research there on flight 587, and the video
interviews of
witnesses, and to offer your comments, and even your assistance.
I'd quickly like to correct a misquote in the article. I was
quoted as
saying that the call for max power by the pilot, the "recovery
mode" the
NTSB's George Black Jr. spoke of, occurred 19 seconds before the
NTSB's key,
8 second sequence. Instead, the call for max power occurred at
15 minutes
and 58 seconds after the hour, 15:58, 6.5 seconds before the NTSB
had stated
it did.
George Black Jr. had directly given reporters and the public
the impression
that the desperate crew comments picked up by the Cockpit Voice
Recorder
(CVR), go to "max power", and we're "losing control",
came *after* the tail
had broken off. This would certainly explain the obsession and
narrow focus
the NTSB currently has on the tail. As I wrote in my timeline
article at
usread.com, and mentioned to your wonderful Editor last week,
this was a
*major* misstatement on the part of the NTSB, since the NTSB's
own data
shows that the call for "max power" (which every heavy
jet pilot will tell
you when this happens *in-flight* it means there is a very worrisome
situation at hand), and the crew comments that they were "losing
control"
(only 2 seconds after the call for max power!), occurred 6.5 and
4.5
seconds, respectively, *before* the rudder and/or tail broke (the
rudder is
the smaller, vertical flap attached to the back of the tail fin
or vertical
stabilizer that can "yaw" the nose of the plane ...
move it left or right).
This is a *big* deal my friends. If the tail did not lead to the
problems
onboard that caused the crew to go to max power and only 2 seconds
later to
be losing control, then what did? Wake turbulence? Something else
perhaps?
There's no doubt the tail did break off. And so did the engines.
But what
was the initiating event?
Also keep this in mind. The Flight Data Recorder stopped working
10 seconds
before the crash, the transponder antenna sent its last radar
signal 16
seconds before the crash, and the communications (between crew
and Control)
from the plane became severely distorted 18 seconds before the
crash. The
engines didn't come off the plane until 3 or 4 seconds before
the crash, so
it's not that they couldn't provide power to the craft. Are we
also to
believe the tail separation also affected these three systems?
Here's the real concern I have and where the NTSB refuses to
cooperate. The
NTSB has released much information (including Flight Data Recorder,
FDR,
information) about the 8 second period from 15:59 to 16:07 when
there was a
second 1/10th g-force lateral movement, the rudder moved wildly
five times
and broke, *and* the FDR stopped working. The plane didn't crash
till 10
seconds later at 16:17. However, aside from telling us that the
FDR
recorded the first 1/10th g-force lateral movement at 15:39 (19
seconds
before their key, 8 second sequence) they have released no FDR
data at all
for that 19 second period. There was a lot going on during those
19 seconds
including loud rattling noises of the airframe. The crew ended
that 19
second period by calling out for max power. All this information
from the
CVR, all this activity on board, and we have no information about
the
plane's speed, altitude, and attitude. Nothing. The NTSB keeps
wanting to
talk about the tail. That's fine. I'd like to talk about the 19
seconds too.
They seem *very* important.
Call Congressman Weiner. Ask him to familiarize himself with
the timeline
which the NTSB won't comment on now with the response that all
data released
so far is preliminary. What exactly does that mean? It is not
a hard task
to synchronize the CVR, FDR, and FAA Tapes. They did it in November.
Ask
him to call the NTSB and ask them for their own simple timeline
of CVR and
FDR events from 15:39 onward. If he gets this I'll shine his shoes.
Victor Trombettas
http://usread.com