According to an article published in Tuesday's USA TODAY, a major jetmaker failed to report vital information about a near accident in 1997 that may have prevented the fatal November 2001 crash of an American Airlines A300 jet. Airbus, a global manufacturer of commercial airliners, reportedly failed to inform government safety regulators that the 27-foot tail fin equipped on the jetmaker's A300 model nearly snapped off during a flight in May 1997, almost five years before the same malfunction caused the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in New York, killing 265 people.

On May 12, 1997, pilots flying an American Airlines A300 from Boston to Miami temporarily lost control of the jet at 16,000 feet as it neared Miami's international airport. In response, the pilots slammed on the jet's rudder pedals to straighten the airliner, similar to what the pilots aboard the doomed Flight 587 attempted. The sudden movements caused cracks in the jet's tail fin. The USA TODAY investigation revealed that Airbus did not notify the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the tail fin problems until after the 2001 disaster, at which time safety regulators discovered cracks on the jet's tail.

Federal regulators do not know for certain whether a further investigation in 1997 may have prevented the American Airlines crash, but they do say that recommendations could have been made to prevent pilots from making identical maneuvers that caused the tail fin to snap off two years ago.

The new information may have serious implications on lawsuits stemming from the 2001 crash.