Airbus Tail Fin Problem Found on Second American Aircraft.

Advanced Materials & Composites News, March, 2002

American Airlines investigators have uncovered problems with the tail fin of a second American Airlines Airbus A300-600, one that experienced an inflight disturbance. Possibly this fin may provide clues about what might have led to the New York crash of American Flight 587 in November 2001.

The problem, described as a "possible delamination" hidden inside the all-composite CFRP tail fin, was discovered during ultrasonic inspections of a fin on an American Airlines A300 that had been involved in an in-flight upset near West Palm Beach, Florida in 1997. That upset placed aerodynamic stress on the tail that approached the intensity of the stress recorded on the tail that failed on Flight 587, investigators said.

The ultrasonic examination at American...

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