WASHINGTON – If the pilot flying American Airlines Flight 587 had taken his foot off the rudder pedal, the jetliner’s tail would not have broken off, the plane would not have plunged into a Queens neighborhood, and 265 people wouldn’t have died on November 12, 2001.

On those details, the investigators agree. But the pilot did not know he was putting more pressure on the tail than it could bear. Why he did not – and who’s to blame for that – is the subject of a bitter fight between Airbus Industrie, which made the plane, and American Airlines, which trained the pilot.

That dispute is expected to play out in public today when the National Transportation Safety Board meets to discuss its findings.

Flight 587 had just taken off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport for the Dominican Republic when it encountered heavy turbulence caused by a large plane that took off before it.

Sten Molin, the co-pilot who was flying the Airbus A300-600,tried to steady the aircraft using pedals that control the rudder, a large flap on a plane’s tail. When his initial movement failed, Molin tried repeatedly. His actions placed enormous stress on the tail and it broke off.

The plane crashed into the Queens neighborhood of Rockaway, killing all 260 aboard and five people on the ground. It was the second-deadliest plane crash on American soil.

American, the only U.S. carrier to use that type of Airbus plane for passenger service, claims the manufacturer did not alert it to the danger of sharp rudder movements until after the crash. The airline also contends the Airbus A300-600 has uniquely sensitive flight controls that can cause more severe rudder movements than the pilot intends.

“Airbus had the ability to truly red flag the issue,” American Airlines spokesman Bruce Hicks said.

Airbus says it told American a number of times and in a number of ways that the airline was improperly training pilots about how to use the rudder.

An Airbus spokesman declined to comment on the investigation before the hearing. However, the company has provided the NTSB with a number of documents to support its claim.

For example, a letter dated August 20, 1997, warned American chief pilot Cecil Ewing that rudders should not be moved abruptly to right a jetliner or when a plane is flown at a sharp angle. The letter was signed by representatives from The Boeing Co., the Federal Aviation Administration, and Airbus.

American now gives its pilots specialized training on the rudder control system based on information learned during the investigation.