So why did the F/O of the AA flight who crashed 2001 not know that excessive rudder movements is dangerous?

Answer 1

The fly-by-wire logic of the A-300 is supposed to prevent excessive control inputs, but in that case it did not.

Edit: ok I stand corrected :)

Answer 2

Because Airbus is poorly designed.

Minimum pressure to start a rudder movement is like 30lbs of pressure (higher input than on a Boeing) but maximum input is reached at 45lbs of force (lower than Boeing).

In an emergency he had a very narrow window of force to apply to initiate a rudder deflection and simply "over-corrected."

This is the classic definition of poor "human-factors" design of a system.

Airbus is 2nd-rate when it come to design.

Answer 3

Here is a link to a 2002 Air Safety Week article about rudder inputs and the A300 crash. One point about Va, whether applicable to the rudder or not (see article) that did emerge from the crash and that was not common knowledge: abrupt and full control deflection as contemplated in Va pertains to movement from neutral to full deflection in one direction, not to movement from fully defected in one direction to fully directed in the opposite direction.

Answer 4

Chris H is correct, the A-300 was not fly by wire.
Wake turbulence can really startle you when you cross it, even in an airplane as large as the A-300. The F/O just did what he'd been trained to do. AA made changes after the NTSB released it's findings.

Answer 5

I do not know the background of either pilot involved. However, as a flight instructor I can tell you that ALOT of pilots out there DO NOT know that the rudder is the only flight control NOT included in the manuevering speed of an airplane. Hope this helps...

Jonathan S
ATP-LRJET,HS-125
CFI/AGI

Answer 6

Captain J and pkdann already nailed this.

Jason: the high end FBW didn't get on to aircraft until the A320, and even then only with a lot of FUD from Boeing.

Answer 7

The simple answer is: We are always taught that if your airspeed is below maneuvering speed, you cannot break the aircraft with full movement of any control.
In other words you can move any control surface from from one extreme to the other without ill effect.
Now we know that this does not apply to hydraulically boosted controls.

Answer 8

That was what the pilot was trained to do in such situation. After that event AA did some adjustments to their training.