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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
articleshow.asp?art_id=2145400007 American Airlines jet crashes near NY airport
CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA TIMES NEWS NETWORK WASHINGTON: An American Airlines plane with 255 people on
board crashed in a New York suburb on Monday morning in what
appeared to be an accident. The incident, which came almost two
months to the day after the September 11 catastrophe, sent a
country already traumatised by terrorism into further shock.
The aircraft, an Airbus 300, has just taken off from New York's John
F Kennedy and was headed to San Domingo in the Dominican
Republic when it came down within minutes. Eyewitness accounts
spoke of an engine on fire. That engine fell off into the backyard of a
house in Queens, while the rest of the plane crashed over several
residential buildings in the area, causing fire and destruction.
There was no immediate word on survivors from the plane or
casualties on the ground. The crash caused more than the usual
manic Monday in New York, where dozens of world leaders are
gathered for the UN General Assembly session on terrorism. Prime
Minister Vajpayee and his entourage had already left New York
Sunday evening for London, but Pakistan President Pervez
Musharaf and a raft of other foreign leaders were still in the city.
President Bush had returned to Washington.
Despite indications that it was an accident, authorities immediately
closed all three airports servicing New York, and also shut down all
the tunnels and bridges connecting the city, causing havoc all
around. Domestic and international flights were disrupted through out
the country. The United Nations was partially shut down. The daily
routine in the city was thinner than usual because of the Veteran's
Day holiday. The city was put on the highest alert and fighter planes patrolled the
skies. Television cameras were kept some distance away and all
that one got to see was thick white smoke billowing from the area.
The fear and panic was heightened by several factors. Besides
coming nearly two months to the day after 9/11, the incident
occurred around the same time (9.15 a.m.) and involved an
American Airlines flight. Two of the four planes in the 911 attack
belonged to American, which is the country's biggest airline. Al four
planes in the 911 attack were Boeings. This crash involved an
Airbus, one of the 35 French aircraft in the airline's fleet of
hundreds of American aircraft.
US officials were telling wire services that no threats against
airplanes had been received and that the pilot reported no trouble
before the crash. But intelligence agencies, the FBI and the Federal Aviation
Administration were reviewing all recent information although there
was no immediate evidence pointing to an attack.
"People should remain calm. We're just being tested one more time
and we're going pass this test too," New York Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ No evidence of terrorism, say officials
WASHINGTON: White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said there were
no unusual communication from the cockpit of the American Airlines
plane that crashed Monday in New York. A senior administration
official added, "It's looking like it's not a terrorist attack."
Fleischer declined to rule out terrorism as a possible cause of the
attack, but said he would not dispute the assessment of the other
official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
At a White House briefing, Fleischer noted that the National
Transportation Safety Board had been named the lead investigative
agency into the crash, in which an Airbus crashed shortly after
takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. That
signaled that authorities have no information other than that a
mechanical malfunction - and not a terrorist attack - brought down
the plane with a large loss of live. Fleischer cautioned that initial information often can turn out to be
incorrect. With the nation on high alert, a result of the Sept. 11 attacks,
Fleischer said President George W. Bush was handed a note shortly
before 9:30 a.m. (1430 GMT) that a plane had gone down.
Bush spoke with New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Gov.
George Pataki, while Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge went
immediately to the White House Situation Room and initiated a
conference call with other senior administration officials, Fleischer
said. The spokesman stepped to the microphones in the White House
briefing room less than three hours after the plane crashed with 255
passengers and crew members aboard. Several eyewitnesses
reported hearing explosions aboard the plane, and a piece of an
engine came to rest outside a gas station in the Queens section of
New York. "There were no unusual communications with the cockpit," Fleischer
said. He said investigators had not yet found the "black box" that
records important in-flight information.
He also said Bush had dispatched federal investigators and
search-and-rescue personnel to the scene.
The crash triggered moments of intense concern inside the
administration, struggling to cope with the aftermath of the Sept. 11
attacks and the anthrax outbreak that followed a few weeks later.
But initial information seemed to allay concern that the American
Airlines crash was another bout of terrorism. "It's looking like it's not
a terrorist attack, but we can't reach a firm conclusion yet," said one
senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
While Fleischer declined to second that, he said the president was
aware of those reports. The spokesman added there was
"understandable reason" why those statements had been made.
While the New York area airports were closed in the wake of the
crash, Fleischer said officials did not intend to shut down the
nation's airline system, as was done following the hijackings of Sept.
11. Bush postponed a scheduled interview with Russian and American
reporters so he could monitor the investigation of the crash. He
meets Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, opening three
days of talks in Washington and Texas. ( AP )
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