The Associated Press A large section of the tailpiece of
American Airlines Flight 587 is lifted off a boat by a crane after
the Airbus A300 crashed in the Rockaway Beach section of the Queens
borough of New York Monday.
By Ron Fournier
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON “”mdash; White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said
there were no unusual communications from the cockpit of an
American Airlines plane that crashed Monday in a residential
section of Queens in New York. The head of the U.S. safety board
said, “All information we have currently is that this is an
accident.”
“The New York people have suffered mightily,”
President Bush said several hours after the crash. “They
suffer again, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the New
Yorkers are a resilient and strong and courageous people and will
help their neighbors overcome this recent incident.”
Bush declined to answer a question about whether the crash was
an act of terrorism. Other officials said evidence pointed to an
accident.
Fleischer said Bush was informed of the crash within minutes of
its occurrence and that Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge
hastened to the White House Situation Room to confer with other
senior officials in a conference call.
At a White House briefing, Fleischer said the National
Transportation Safety Board had been named the lead agency
investigating the Airbus that crashed shortly after takeoff from
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
The crash triggered moments of intense concern inside the
administration still 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. Several
administration officials, including some at the White House, said
the incident did not appear to be a terrorist attack.
Marion Blakey, chairwoman of the NTSB, said preliminary evidence
suggests the crash was an accident. She announced that the
plane’s flight data recorder has been recovered.
Fleischer said there had been no credible threats against
airplanes in advance of the crash. The White House spokesman
declined to rule terrorism in or out as a possible cause of the
crash but said he would not dispute the assessment of U.S.
officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, who said there was
no preliminary evidence of terrorism.
The airlines have taken a financial beating since the suicide
hijackings of Sept. 11, and officials have worked to rebuild public
confidence in the industry. “The president continues to
believe that people need to travel,” said Fleischer.
An administration source, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said preliminary reports led the FBI to believe there was an
explosion aboard the plane and was investigating whether it was an
accident, mechanical failure or an act of sabotage. Fleischer said
he could not confirm the report.
“There have been, according to eyewitnesses, information
that an engine was seen being detached from the plane and that it
landed separately from the main body of the airplane,” he
said.
With the nation on high alert ““ a result of the Sept. 11
attacks ““ Fleischer said Bush was in the Situation Room
convening a national security meeting when he was handed a note
shortly before 9:30 a.m. that a plane had gone down.
Bush spoke with New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Gov. George
Pataki and “expressed to both of them his deepest sympathy
for the people of New York to be enduring any other trauma,”
Fleischer said.
The president also spoke with British Prime Minister Tony Blair,
who called to discuss U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan. Bush
told Blair what he knew about the crash, a White House aide
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.
New York area airports were closed in the wake of the crash, and
federal officials briefly considered a nationwide shutdown. But
Fleischer said officials did not intend to do that, and indicated
the New York airports wouldn’t be closed for long.
Bush postponed a scheduled interview with Russian and American
reporters so he could monitor the investigation into the crash of
Flight 587, which had just taken off from John F. Kennedy
International Airport en route to the Dominican Republic. He meets
Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, opening three days
of talks in Washington and Texas.
Intelligence agencies, the FBI and the Federal Aviation
Administration were reviewing all recent intelligence for any signs
that terrorism was involved but an hour after the crash there was
no evidence pointing to an attack, said a U.S. official speaking
only on condition of anonymity.
“They are comparing information to see if it provides any
insight into what transpired. At this point, there’s no
indication of a terrorist attack, but it certainly can’t be
ruled out in our current environment,” the official said.