How strong is the vertical stabilizer?

[mny]

What kind of testing does it go through? I have read some scary things about their strength on the Airbus jets :cry:

There is a ton of information about how the wings have to almost touch each other before breaking. That is comforting. But what about the stabilizer?

[MathFox]

The vertical stabilizer is designed "strong enough". The stabilizers are shorter (and lighter) than the wings and don't carry that much load. It is possible to design them with a safety margin such that they will keep up to all common loads in flight.