The Diario Libre picked up a story very important to all Dominicans: Airbus Industries knew in 1997 that the vertical stabilizer of the Airbus A-300 was prone to damage in certain circumstances and said nothing to the FAA. USA Today says that the Airbus people apparently kept quiet about an incident in 1997 that severely damaged the tail section of the A-300. Many people remember the tragedy of Flight AA587 in November of 2001, when another A-300 carrying 265 passengers (mostly Dominicans) crashed shortly after takeoff from New York?s JFK Airport en route to Santo Domingo. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chief, Bernard Loeb, said that even if the tests were preliminary on the 1997 flight, Airbus should have informed the NTSB of the problem. For full story see:
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030527/