Smoke rises after an American Airlines Airbus A300 flight crashed
Officials hope the black boxes will confirm their current suspicions: That the tragic crash of Flight 587 was an accident — not an act of terrorism.
The Airbus A-300 went down shortly after takeoff from New York's Kennedy airport Monday morning, en route to the Dominican Republic. Sending new shockwaves through an already nervous city and nation, the plane plowed into a Belle Harbor, Queens neighborhood with 246 passengers and nine crew members aboard at 9:17 AM ET. The plane crashed just three minutes after takeoff — the most dangerous part of any flight. Rescue workers have not found any survivors from the plane; six people are reported missing on the ground in Rockaway. Officials warn they have no clues as to why the plane went down, but add that the pilot appears to have dumped fuel before crashing, a procedure consistent with a mechanical failure.
It was a clear, sunny morning in New York City, eerily reminscent of that morning almost exactly two months when two planes crashed into the World Trade Center. In this quiet Queens neighborhood, four houses were destroyed, four others seriously damaged, and possibly another dozen sustained slight damage. Injuries on the ground appear to be primarily minor, with local hospitals reporting many cases of smoke inhalation and minor burns.
"The airplane was making a frightful noise," said Cornelious Shanahan, who lives five houses away from where the airplane engine smashed a Texaco gas station on 129th Street. "We rushed out of the house and the firemen were there in seconds, with policemen right behind them. The first response was wonderful."
William Rannacher, a 25-year neighborhood resident, ran towards the column of smoke to assist any injured he could find. He got close to the crater and spotted houses on fire. "The front half of the building was ablaze," he said. "The cops came and they said there liable to be an explosion and cleared everyone out. I think they were afraid of fuel in the plane."
This area, just five miles south of Kennedy airport, is still struggling with losses from the September 11th attacks; a primarily Irish-American enclave, Belle Harbor lost dozens of residents during the WTC collapse and the subsequent relief efforts. One local church alone has held nearly a dozen funerals in recent weeks.
Early clues
There is no evidence as yet that the cause of the crash was terrorism. The plane's cockpit voice recorder was recovered at around 1 p.m. EST, and was sent immediately to the National Transportation Safety Board for analysis. "No one should speculate as to the cause of this crash," Mayor Giuliani warned during an afternoon news conference.
Because the government does not yet consider this a criminal matter, the NTSB is the lead investigative agency. Early indications indicate that the pilot did not report any trouble before the crash. Eyewitnesses say that pieces of the plane's engine and wing landed separately from the rest of the aircraft, an indication that the plane was breaking up before it hit the ground. The FBI told the Associated Press there was some evidence of explosions on the plane, but no confirmation is available.
Precautions taken
Although the FAA says it has no evidence that the crash was a terrorist attack, New York city went into lockdown mode immediately following the disaster, declaring a "Level 1" alert, shuttering all three city airports, and closing down traffic on bridges and tunnels entering the city. The Bush Administration said it briefly considered shutting down all airports, but ultimately rejected the idea because it felt there was no credible threat to other flights.
White House reaction
Shortly after the disaster, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters the President was informed of the crash while he was at a national security meeting. Fleischer said the president called both Mayor Giuliani and New York governor George Pakaki to express his "concern." Fleischer said there had been "no unusual communications with the cockpit" before the plane crashed, but that he "wanted to be cautious about any conclusions at this time." He said there had been no credible threats received today that indicated such an action might occur.
The plane
Donald Carty, chairman of the already beleaguered American Airlines, called Monday "an incredibly sad day." He said the airline knew no more than anyone else at the moment. "We have absolutely no indication of what caused the accident."
The Airbus is built by a consortium of European manufacturers and seats over 300 people in most of its configurations. According to a spokesman for American Airlines, the plane entered service in July of 1988. It was last checked earlier this month, although its last major overhaul was back in December of 1999. The safety of the wide-body A-300 jet was called into question several years ago after one plane crashed upon landing in Taiwan, leading to speculation about the craft's pilot automation systems.
With reporting by Joe Pappalardo/Queens