New York

Two maintenance technicians where on board Northwest Airlines' Airbus A319 N313NB which was taxied from a maintenance area to Gate 10. When they arrived in the vicinity of gate 10, the mechanic who was steering the plane, activated the parking brake and waited for ground personnel and a jetway operator to arrive. After the ground personnel arrived he released the parking brake. The airplane did not move and he advanced the throttles out of their idle detents "a couple of inches, about halfway." The airplane began to move at a "fairly decent speed," and he realized the throttles were still out of the idle detent position. He pulled the throttle back and applied brakes; however, the airplane did not slow and continued until it struck the concrete support column of the jetway, and the left wing contacted the right side of a Boeing 757-251 (N550NW, parked at gate 9). The nose gear sheared off the Airbus, and the right side of the Boeing sustained a 6-foot long, 2-foot wide gash, just aft of the R1 door. The mechanic estimated that the airplane was about halfway down the parking line when he pulled back the throttles. Initial review of the flight data recorder for the time period surrounding the accident revealed that about 10 seconds after the parking brake was released, the thrust lever angles for both engines were increased to about 17 degrees for about 8 seconds, before they were returned to the idle position. During that time, the engines N1 and N2 speeds increased to about 71, and 85 percent, respectively.

On November 12, 2001, about 0916:15 eastern standard time, American Airlines flight 587, an Airbus Industrie A300-605R, N14053, crashed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, New York, shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, Jamaica, New York. Flight 587 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight to Las Americas International Airport, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with 2 flight crewmembers, 7 flight attendants, and 251 passengers aboard the airplane. The airplane's vertical stabilizer and rudder separated in flight and were found in Jamaica Bay, about 1 mile north of the main wreckage site. The airplane's engines subsequently separated in flight and were found several blocks north and east of the main wreckage site. All 260 people aboard the airplane and 5 people on the ground were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire. Flight 587 was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 on an instrument flight rules flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

The Boeing 767 departed Boston-Logan Airport at 0814LT on a regular schedule service to Los Angeles, carrying 56 passengers and a crew of nine. Few minutes later, the aircraft was hijacked by terrorists who modified the flight path and flew direct over New York. At 0903LT, the aircraft struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center, between 78th and 84th floor. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 65 occupants were killed. The tower later collapsed. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 are under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Safety Board provided requested technical assistance to the FBI, and this material generated by the NTSB is under the control of the FBI. The Safety Board does not plan to issue a report or open a public docket.