New York crash: investigators find second ’black box’

US air investigators have recovered the second black box from the wreckage of an American Airlines jet that crashed in New York killing over 260 people.

The flight data recorder could provide vital information about why the Airbus A300 nosedived into a suburban area of the city on Monday after apparently breaking up in mid-air.

Meanwhile the cockpit voice recorder revealed that there were problems on the aircraft less than two minutes after take-off.

A rattling noise could be heard 107 seconds into the flight, followed by frantic efforts by the pilots to control the plane.

Seven seconds later, the captain indicated they were having a ‘‘wake encounter’’, indicating a vortex of turbulence that trails an aircraft, said George Black from the National Transportation Safety Board.

He said a Japan Airlines 747 took off two minutes and 20 seconds in front of the American Airlines jet, which was normal procedure.

After a second rattle was heard the co-pilot called for maximum power followed by several comments suggesting loss of control.

The recording ends less than two and a half minutes after the plane took off from New York’s Kennedy Airport, headed for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Witnesses said they saw the plane wobble in the sky before breaking apart and showering debris on the neighbourhood along Rockaway Beach, in Queens, New York, obliterating four homes in the area.

NTSB Chairwoman Marion Blakey said the most likely cause of the crash was still thought to be an accident.

‘‘We have no information that would argue for criminal activity or anything that indicates sabotage to date.’’

But she stressed investigators were still working closely with the FBI and had not yet ruled anything out.

Some 262 bodies have been recovered from where the jet crashed. Up to nine people are still missing on the ground.

The discovery of the second black box came as it emerged that US aviation officials had issued a safety notice a month ago for the type of engine that powered the Airbus A300.

The Federal Aviation Authority called for more frequent inspections because it said an ‘‘unsafe condition’’ had been identified in the engine, but the order had not come into force by the time of the crash.

The General Electric CF6-80C2 engine has been under close scrutiny since the spring of 2000, when failures in it were reported.

The NTSB had also warned that failure of these engines during flight could send hot metal fragments tearing through important control systems or fuel lines, and could cause a plane to crash.

The engine is used on more than 1,000 aircraft worldwide, including the plane of the US president, Air Force One.

General Electric says it believes the engine is ‘‘phenomenally reliable.’’