American Airlines Flight 587 — November 2001 aviation accident in New York, US
The deadliest U.S. aviation accident since 1979, killing 260 people and attributed to improper rudder use exacerbated by flawed pilot training.
Key Facts
- Date of crash
- November 12, 2001
- Passengers killed
- 251 people
- Crew members killed
- 9 people
- Ground fatalities
- 5 people
- Aircraft type
- Airbus A300B4-605R
- Cause (NTSB)
- First officer's overuse of rudder controls in wake turbulence
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
A Japan Airlines Boeing 747-400 took off minutes ahead of Flight 587, generating wake turbulence. The first officer responded with aggressive rudder inputs, a reaction reinforced by a flawed training scenario that overstated wake turbulence dangers. The repeated full rudder deflections placed extreme stress on the vertical stabilizer.
On November 12, 2001, shortly after takeoff from JFK International Airport, the vertical stabilizer separated from the Airbus A300, followed by both engines. The aircraft crashed into the Belle Harbor neighborhood on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, killing all 260 people on board and five on the ground.
The disaster became the second-deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history. The NTSB investigation led to revised pilot training standards regarding rudder use and wake turbulence response. Because the crash occurred two months after September 11, it initially prompted terrorism fears, which were subsequently ruled out.