SCIENTISTS at QinetiQ in Malvern are researching a type of turbulence which may have caused last month's airliner crash in New York.

QinetiQ, the former Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), carries out research for the Ministry of Defence and other organisations.

Since the American Airlines A-300 Airbus crashed in Queens on Monday, November 12, speculation has been rife that the accident could be blamed on wake vortices from another aircraft.

A team from the remote-sensing division at QinetiQ has been researching the phenomenon for several years, sponsored, in a strange twist, by Airbus.

Dr Michael Harris, technical leader of the team, said air disturbance was part of the lift process.

"Aircraft running into vortices can undergo a severe buffeting," said Dr Harris, although he added he could not speculate on whether it caused the crash.

The QinetiQ team uses a laser radar or "lidar" to detect the vortices, which are normally invisible to the eye.

Airbus hopes the information gained from research will allow engineers to design plane wings that will minimise the problems.