Stardate 20011114.2159 (On Screen): Investigators seem to have concluded that the loss of the stabilizer from the Airbus A-300 which crashed was the cause of the loss of the jet. The question is why it snapped off, and it may turn out to be because it was made of composites instead of metal. This is standard practice on current jets, but the A-300 was first commercial jet model to use composites, and there may be a weakness in the design due to lack of experience of the designers with the material. Also, it is more difficult to repair than aluminum, which may also have been a factor. Another possibility is that vortices from a 747 which had taken off just before the A-300 might have caused extra turbulence on the structure of the A-300 which precipitated a progressive mechanical failure of the tail. I'd put my money now on a combination of those: that the tail was weak and the vortices represented enough extra stress to make it come off.
(discussion in progress)
