National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Marion Blakely said investigators had found the plane’s flight data recorder. This as New York City started regaining normalcy hours after the American Airlines flight 587 crashed Monday over the Rockaway Section of Queens in New York.
A Port Authority spokesman was quoted by AFP as saying that “authorities reopened bridges and tunnels in New York but all three airports in the New York area remain closed until further notice.”
American Airlines gave no indication of what caused the crash as they declined to speculate about the possible causes. Speaking to the press, Chairman and CEO of American Airlines, Donald Carty, said that the crash came at a “difficult time” for the airline and the nation.
Meanwhile, the UN, which is holding the high-level General Assembly debate, has geared up its security measures following the accident of the Airbus 300, which crashed over a residential neighborhood in New York.
According to a loudspeaker announcement heard through the UN building, staffers were advised of the plane crash, but the announcement came short of evacuating the entire compound.
US markets tumbled shortly following the news of the crash. The Dow Jones Industrial average, NASDAQ Composite Index, and S&P 500 immediately fell 2.1, 2.5 and 2 percent respectively. However, by the end of the day, all indices had trimmed their losses; the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 63.67 points, or 0.66 percent, at 9,544.33, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was off 2.99 points, or 0.27 percent, at 1,117.32.
The Nasdaq composite index was up 6.72 points, or 0.37 percent, at 1,835.20.
The Airbus A300 went down at 9.17 am (EST) in the Rockaway section of the New York City borough of Queens about five miles from Kennedy Airport. The plane was on its way to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. 255 people were on abroad the flight of which 246 passengers and 9 were crew members. The crash also injured 16 others on the ground, destroying four homes and seriously damaging another four, prompting New York Mayor Rudolph Guliani to declare the area a Level One emergency zone. Witnesses said that they heard the sound of an explosion and saw one of the plane engines falling down before the plane crash.
One eyewitness reported debris falling from the sky, and told the Fox News Channel that four homes were on fire.
Another told CNN he was 40 blocks away and saw “Just a lot of smoke. Tons and tons of smoke. You can see emergency vehicles heading to the area. Lots of people are standing in the streets. It's very tense.''
Both national and international air traffic were affected. In Los Angeles, California, airport officials said flights to the three New York-area airports were grounded. British Airways said it had two flights en route to New York at the time of the crash, CNN reported.
A spokesman was quoted by the news source as saying that those planes would be diverted. A Lufthansa flight to New York was grounded.
The Pentagon said surveillance flights were going on in the area at the time of the crash and nothing unusual had been spotted.
The mayor canceled his morning events and headed to the scene.
The CIA said there was no sign that terrorists were behind the crash.
CNN confirmed President Bush postponed a scheduled interview with Russian and American reporters so he could meet with advisers and discuss the crash.
"The president is on top of it. They're alert; they're watching everything else all over the country," Giuliani told CNN. "So I think people should remain absolutely calm. This can be handled, and we're just being tested one more time. We're going to pass this test, too."
According to White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, Vice President Dick Cheney was at a secure location when the accident happened but was monitoring events. The President and Vice President have been frequently separated for security reasons following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Fleischer added that Homeland Security Chief, Tom Ridge, was in the White House at the time of the crash. Ridge was taken to the situation room where he joined a conference called with Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta, Allbaugh and officials from the FAA and Pentagon.
Asked if terrorism was suspected, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Bill Schumann said, "All options are open at this time. We have very limited information."
About 200 family members of passengers on the plane were waiting at the Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo, said Dominican customs official Evelyn Aredondo. "People are watching TV, waiting to hear something," she said. "They are very upset."
The crash came two months after the attacks on the World Trade Center Towers, which were destroyed by two Boeing 767s hijacked out of Boston's Logan Airport. One of the planes was operated by American Airlines, the other by United Airlines. – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
