At 01:06 14 March 2006, Bob Faris wrote:
There is a common misconception of maneuvering speed
among pilots
that
somehow has been interpreted to be the maximum speed
that will not
cause airframe damage with full and abrupt control
deflections. THIS
IS WRONG! The November 2001 crash of the AA Airbus
in New York
was
determined to be from abrupt rudder deflections below
maneuvering
speed
resulting in the loss of the vertical fin.
http://www.flyingmag.com/article.asp...article_id=527

I might be wrong here, but the AA Airbus break-up was
due to a repair
on the vertical fin spar. The Airbus flight controler
positions the controles
according to a program designed to limit the amount
of deflection so that
over stress does not occur. Everything runs through
the box.
Chuck