Jet crashes in N.Y.; NEW YORK >> A jetliner en route to the Dominican Republic broke apart minutes after takeoff and crashed in flames in a waterfront neighborhood today, destroying houses and sowing initial fears of a new terrorist atrocity.
all 255 aboard die
Mechanical failure, not terrorist
attack, believed to be the causeOnly 1 arriving flight delayed at Honolulu airport
By Diego Ibarguen
Associated Press
There were no survivors among the 255 people aboard; six others were reported missing on the ground.
"It's looking like it's not a terrorist attack," said a senior Bush administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. If there was an explosion on the plane -- and many bystanders heard one -- it was probably caused by a catastrophic mechanical failure, investigators said.
Authorities said one of the two black boxes on board the 13-year-old Airbus A300 had been found and would be examined for clues.
American Airlines Flight 587 left Kennedy Airport at 4:14 a.m. Hawaii time, lifting off into a clear blue sky. It went down three minutes later in the Rockaway Beach section of Queens -- a middle-class neighborhood that had lost scores of its people, firefighters and financial workers among them, in the World Trade Center catastrophe just two months ago.
Gov. George Pataki said the pilot had dumped fuel in Jamaica Bay before the plane went down -- indicating the crew knew the jet was in danger.
Saud Aziz, 38, said he was raking leaves in front of his home when he looked up, spotted the plane and saw a large chunk of a wing fall off. At that point, he said, the aircraft went into a spiraling dive and set the neighborhood on fire.
"We could feel the heat. The flames were intense," he said. "Even though it was burning, it was weird, because it was very quiet."
Other witnesses reported hearing an explosion and seeing an engine and other debris falling off the twin-engine jet as it came down. An engine was found intact in a parking lot at a Texaco station, missing the gas pumps by no more than 6 feet; neighbors ran to the scene with garden hoses to put out the fire.
Part of a wing appeared to be in Jamaica Bay, just offshore, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said.
"I don't believe there are any survivors at this point," Giuliani said. As of midafternoon, 161 bodies had been recovered, he said.
Six people were reported missing on the ground, the mayor said.
Roberto Valentin, a Dominican ambassador at large, spoke through tears when he said he believed 90 percent of the passengers were Dominican; New York has more Dominicans than any other state, with 455,000 in New York City alone.
Relatives of passengers crowded Santo Domingo's airport, sobbing and grasping each other after hearing about the crash.
"Oh my God!" said Miriam Fajardo, crying after being told that her sister and three nephews were aboard. "I hadn't seen them in eight years. Now they're gone."
The rectory of St. Francis de Sales, one block from the crash site, was used as an emergency command center. Its pastor, Monsignor Martin Geraghty, was called away to bless bodies.
Firefighter Joe O'Brien accompanied the priest. The monsignor blessed about 20 bodies, which were being laid out on the street right in front of the crash site, O'Brien said.
"Right now they're just recovering bodies. The FBI is looking for evidence," he said. "And the priests are down there consoling firemen."
Thirty-five people were treated for injuries at the hospital -- mostly rescue workers, firefighters and police. All were hurt not in the crash but in the aftermath, with most of them suffering smoke inhalation.
Four houses were destroyed, four were seriously damaged, and as many as a dozen others had lesser damage, the mayor said. Smoke poured from the neighborhood and could be seen from miles away.
A city that had already suffered a catastrophe in lower Manhattan and anthrax scares reacted immediately by calling a high alert. Fighter planes patrolled the skies over New York; bridges, tunnels and all three major airports were closed for a time; the Empire State Building was evacuated.
In Washington, President Bush met with advisers, seeking details of the crash. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said intelligence agencies, the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration were reviewing recent intelligence for signs that terrorism was involved.
But White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said there were no "unusual communications" from the cockpit. And a senior administration official said that no threats against airplanes had been received.
The National Transportation Safety Board was designated the lead agency in the investigation, signaling that authorities have no information other than that a mechanical malfunction -- and not a terrorist attack -- brought down the plane.
A law enforcement source at the scene told The Associated Press that the likelihood of a mechanical problem stemmed from the fact that flames were seen shooting out of the left engine and that witnesses reported the plane had difficulty climbing and was banking to the left.
Jennifer Rivara said she was looking out a window from her home about five blocks from Monday's crash. "I saw pieces falling out of the sky," she said. "And then I looked over to my left and I saw this huge fireball, and the next thing I know, I hear this big rumbling sound. I ran to the door and all I saw was big black smoke."
Giuliani said his first thought upon hearing about the crash was "'Oh, my God.' I just passed the church in which I've been to, I think, 10 funerals here. Rockaway was particularly hard hit" in the Trade Center disaster, he said.
The American Airlines crash in New York today heightened the state of alert at Honolulu Airport with Hawaii Air National Guard F-15 combat jets ready to be airborne if needed, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Only 1 arriving flight
delayed at Honolulu airportStar-Bulletin staff
However, Tweet Coleman, FAA spokeswoman said the accident did not affect operations at the airport. No flights were canceled or delayed from leaving Honolulu. All state airports remained open.
American Airlines flights scheduled to leave for the mainland this afternoon were expected to depart on time, she said.
The only airline affected was a Continental Airlines' direct flight from Newark today which was delayed from leaving after the airport there was closed. The Continental flight was supposed to have departed from Newark shortly after noon Eastern time (7 a.m. Hawaii time).
Also, Continental did not know if its direct flight to Newark from Honolulu Airport would take off as scheduled at 8:00 p.m.
Meanwhile, Gov. Ben Cayetano was traveling on the mainland when he heard of the American Airlines crash. He told Sam Callejo, chief of staff, to coordinate local contingency plans with Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, who is acting governor until Cayetano returns Wednesday.
In a statement issued this morning, Cayetano said, "There is a strong likelihood this unfortunate incident was an accident."
He added that Hawaii officials will continue to monitor the events.
Star-Bulletin reporters Gregg Kakesako and Richard Borreca contributed to this report.