Wingtip vortex turbulence, thought to be a factor in the 12 November American Airlines Airbus A300-600 crash near New York Kennedy might have been strengthened by windshear, and so have had more of an effect than current research suggests, according to a new paper by Dr Miroslav Mokry, a principal research officer at Canada's National Research Council (NRC). Mokry says his theory is based on computer modelling, but is now undergoing windtunnel tests. The model indicates that the conditions on the day of the crash might have increased the energy in one of the wingtip vortices from the Boeing 747 ahead of the A300.
Source: Flight International