NTSB investigates 767 elevator problem

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The National Transportation Safety Board says it is investigating a problem on a Boeing 767 airliner that forced pilots to land without full use of the plane's elevators.

Elevators control an airplane's up and down movement.

The incident under investigation occurred Tuesday as American Airlines flight 48, originating in Dallas, approached Charles de Gaulle International Airport. As the plane was descending through 6,000 feet, the flight crew told investigators, the plane's elevators did not respond as expected when they moved the control column.

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There were no injuries to the 124 passengers and 13 crew members aboard.

The crew used the plane's trim tabs -- small, devices attached to the trailing edge of the elevators -- to control the plane. Typically, those devices are used to minimize a pilot's workload by changing the flow of air over the control surface.

The crew "had to play with the trim a great deal" to land the plane, an official said.

The plane, a Boeing 767-300, is the same type as the EgyptAir plane that crashed off Nantucket on October 31, 1999, killing all aboard.

While U.S. investigators say there is evidence that the EgyptAir pilot may have forced the plane into a dive, EgyptAir officials say an elevator control problem may have caused the wreck.

But NTSB officials said there was no apparent connection between the two incidents.

"We're looking at this as a very separate event right now," said NTSB spokesman Terry Williams. "As with any investigation, if we notice similarities, we will look at them very closely."

The NTSB noted that an initial examination of the American Airlines' stabilizer components revealed no breaks. The EgyptAir 767, meanwhile, rivets on two of the three bell cranks in the right elevator were sheared in one direction, and the rivets on the remaining bell crank were sheared in the opposite direction.

Further testing on the American Airlines plane and a review of its flight data recorder are planned, the NTSB said.

The cockpit voice recorder, which records cockpit sounds, contains no useful information because sounds recorded on the 30-minute tape were overwritten.

The French government has turned over investigation of the incident to the NTSB.

The NTSB, meanwhile, says it expects to turn over a draft report of the EgyptAir crash to EgyptAir officials within the next two weeks.

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American Airlines
National Transportation Safety Board
 • Aviation
Boeing 767

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