American Airlines/ A300/AA587

[Latino2002]

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Quote Data provided by Reuters



Wednesday January 2, 5:42 am Eastern Time
Airbus says no record that NY jet damaged in storm
(UPDATE: Rewrites with Airbus comment, changes dateline from WASHINGTON)

PARIS, Jan 2 (Reuters) - European plane maker Airbus has no record that the A300 jet that crashed moments after taking off in New York last November was damaged in a storm before it was delivered to American Airlines (NYSE:AMR - news), an Airbus spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
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The spokeswoman was responding to questions following a report in the Washington Post which said investigators were looking into evidence that the plane in question had been blown backwards onto its tail during a violent storm in 1987 while awaiting final work at an Airbus factory.

``There is no record in the papers of the plane of something like that,'' an Airbus spokeswoman told Reuters. ``Under normal circumstances, there would be a repair indicated.''

Citing unidentified sources close to the investigation, the Post said the plane was carefully inspected after the storm and no damage was found.

The newspaper said there was no indication the alleged incident had anything to do with the November crash, but investigators looking into the crash that killed 260 on board and five people on the ground said they could not overlook the incident.

U.S. investigators have not determined the cause of the crash but have focused on the composite makeup of the tail section of the A300-600 series and extreme rudder movements just after the aircraft passed through a relatively common bout of turbulence from a bigger plane flying several miles ahead.

Investigators believe the A300's vertical stabilizer, or tail fin, and its rudder fell off before American Airlines flight 587 crashed 103 seconds after taking off from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport bound for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

American Airlines is owned by AMR Corp. Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, is owned by European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Co. and BAE Systems Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BA.L).