``Plane Crash in New York Due to Turbulence``

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating the crash of American Airlines Flight 587, said on Wednesday that turbulence from another jet might have caused the airliner to break apart moments after takeoff.

Chairwoman of the NTSB Marion Blakey said at the press conference that this catastrophic flight disaster was highly likely to be an accident.

The standard interval between flights is two minutes. However, the interval between Flight 587 and a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 that left ahead of it from the same runway was only one minute and 45 seconds.

Turbulence has often been pointed out as a factor that endangers the following plane.

Britain`s `The Guardian` reported on Wednesday that a crash investigator said that the cause of the crash of Flight 587 was highly likely to be the breakaway of the aircraft`s vertical tail instead of engine failure.

It reported that there was a possibility that the bolts fixing the vertical stabilizer to the tail may have come loose, and investigators were still examining whether this was caused by pressure, but without ruling out the possibility of sabotage.

Yun-Chul Park yc97@donga.com