Seconds From Disaster - Plane Crash in Queens HD

On November 12th 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, operated by an Airbus A300-600R, leaves John F. Kennedy Airport for Santo Domingo. Shortly after take-off, the A300 encounters wake turbulence from a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 that has taken off from the same runway 30 seconds earlier, causing it to roll violently about its lateral axis.

The handling pilot attempts to stabilize the airliner by applying firm rudder, but this is so extreme that it overstresses the attachments between the fuselage and the vertical stabilizer (or 'fin'), causing them to fail.

The entire fin then breaks away. Without the fin to give it lateral stability, the aircraft rolls out of control and crashes into Rockaway, Queens, killing all 260 people on board and five on the ground.