USAir Jetliner Should Have Been Steerable, Boeing Says

Federal hearings on last September’s crash of a USAir jetliner concluded here Thursday with testimony by the plane’s manufacturer that the pilots should have been able to steer it properly during the ill-fated takeoff run.

Two of Flight 505’s 57 passengers were killed when pilot Michael Martin’s attempt to abort the takeoff failed and the Boeing 737 skidded off the end of the runway and into the East River.

Martin testified earlier this week that he had tried to abort the takeoff because he was unable to correct the jetliner’s drift to the left as it accelerated down the runway.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, which conducted the hearings, said that this drift may have been caused by the plane’s rudder, a big vertical fin on the back of the tail, which had been preset to the left--apparently inadvertently--before takeoff.

Boeing executives testified Thursday that, even though the rudder was preset in the full left trim position, the pilots should have retained full capability to steer the plane in either direction if the controls were working properly.

Safety board investigators say their examination of the wreckage showed that all of the plane’s control systems--including the rudder--were working properly until the plane crashed.

In testimony Wednesday night, Donald McClure, a former airline captain representing the Air Line Pilots Assn., defended the delay of more than 30 hours between the crash and the time when Martin and his co-pilot, Constantine Kleissas, reported to NTSB investigators for interviews and for tests to determine whether there were drugs or alcohol in their systems.

McClure said the delays in interviews and tests violated no Federal Aviation Administration rules, and he said the wait did not impair the safety board investigation.

Documents submitted during the hearing show that both the pilot and co-pilot passed the urine tests.