I just heard on ABC that they are closing all bridges and tunnels in NYC.
I have CNN on now. Appears to be definate that it was an outbout A300 to the Dominican Republic. The crash is at the central shopping district in Queens. All NYC airports, bridges, and tunnels are now closed.
another eyewitness says saw engine fall off before plane fell
Listening to CBS news via WHTZ 100.3 and they’re saying the plane was taking off and bound for the Dominican Republic.
Co-worker’s mom checked in. Says plane hit near gas station and the whole neighborhood is being evacuated.
BBC New York correspondent says it was a Airbus A300 taking off from JFK. They don’t have much to go on, and there have been a lot of conflicting reports already.
4 buildings in Far Rockaway beach on fire, crash site very near gas station, may be contibuting to fire. Big plume of grey smoke over southern Queens.
My friend Annette lives in Queens. I’m worried.
Passenger manifest has been adjusted to 246.
Confirmed 246 passengers. 44 firetrucks on the way to the scene. They have been saying it’s the Rockaway Beach shopping area. It crashed upon takeoff.
There were no reports of anything out of the ordinary before the plane took off.
The pentagon reports no distress calls before the crash.
any dopers in the area? hope they’re OK
Hearing that there was a helicopter very close to plane. I also heard of eyewitnesses reporting an engine falling off, plane then dropping like a rock. Fighter jet tried to respond, arrived too late.
BBC bogged down.
German news sources: Airbus 300, outbound from JFK for the Dominican republic.
Speculation: There’s a UN conference today. But it might just be coincidence.
God DAMN it. As callous as it sounds, I hope, hope, hope this was a “normal” crash. 
They said there was an exlosion on the right hand side of the plane.
[begin wild assed speculation]
Maybe it was engine trouble.
[end wild assed speculation]
Why does this shit keep happening…
Reports so far are saying it was an accident, and probably not a terrorist attack. We’ll soon find out if it’s not so, I suspect.
Good lord, why?
WCBS radio just pointed out that regardless of how this crash happened, this is one seriously tragic coincidence. This is an area where a large number of NYC firefighters live.
My Grandparents live on that same spit of land. They live about 100 blocks away (Thank Gd). But I still can’t get through to them on the phone.
According to a statement released by Mayor Gulliani there are now 12 buildings involved.
Calming down slightly.
A plane taking off is at its maximum stress. If an engine failed catastrophically (ie blew up) that plane will go down and quickly, at that. Apparently it went down only minutes after take off, if that. An engine goes, the plane stalls.
Not to take away from the horror of the people on the plane, or their loved ones, but I very much hope it was an accident, not terrorism.
The engine that fell off the plane landed in a boat in someone’s yard. No one was home.
They are saying on CNN that there are 12 buildings on fire.
Giuliani (sp?) is on right now, saying most of the firefighters that worked 9/11 are from that area.
I am just sick, literally sick to my stomach over this.
I remember a plane coming in from LA that crashed in a park here just south of C Springs, it did a nosedive partially from wind shear, just fucking nosed in the ground and boom it was gone. The plane was fucking gone. Part of why I hate to fly.
My dad coulda been on that plane, he still is mad at himself for not letting us know that he wasn’t on that plane. My god it was the worst feeling, not knowing if he was on it or not.
I called him and told him that he no longer allowed to fly. I can’t accept the fact that people can die via plane anymore. I can’t have this in my life.
GOD, please let this be an innocent accident.
NEW YORK – An American Airlines flight that had just taken off for the Dominican Republic crashed Monday, and buildings reportedly were on fire in the Queens section of New York City.
Flight 587, an Airbus A300 that can hold 275 passengers, crashed shortly after 9 a.m. and thick, black smoke could be seen miles away. There was no report of the number of casualties, either on the plane or on the ground.
Thick, black smoke could be seen miles away from the crash in the Rockaways section of Queens.
The crash came two months after the attack on the World Trade Center, which was destroyed by two Boeing 767s hijacked out of Boston’s Logan Airport. One of the planes was operated by American, the other by United.
Bill Schumann of the Federal Aviation Administration said there was no immediate indication of what caused the crash. He said the plane crashed about five miles from Kennedy Airport.
All metro area airports – Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark – were closed following the crash, in Rockaway, Queens. The Office of Emergency Management said all bridges and tunnels in the city were closed except to emergency vehicles.
Planes were being diverted, and Delta Air Lines spokeswoman Peggy Estes said the airline was working to account for all its planes.
The mayor canceled his morning events and headed to the scene.
One eyewitness reported debris falling from sky, and told the Fox News Channel 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.”
From NY Newsday
Even if it is an accident, this is clearly not what anybody neads right now.
This is the 12th crash involving an Airbus plane since 1992. Computer problems have been cited in eight of these.
List:
2-16-98 A-300-622R; 197 Fatal; Crashed Taipei; Missed go around?
9-26-97 A-300-B4-200; 234 Fatal; Crashed Buah Nabar, Indonesia; ATC
error?
3-31-95 A-310-324; 60 Fatal; Crashed Balotesti, Romania;
COMPUTER(auto-Throt)
12-26-94 A-300-B2-1C; 7 Fatal; Hijack; Algiers, Algeria(Not Aircraft
problem)
8-10-94 A-300-B4-622R; 0 Fatal; Overan R/w & Burn; Cheju, Korea COMPUTER?
6-30-94 A-330-321; 7 Fatal; Demo Crashed; Toulouse, France; COMPUTER
4-26-94 A-300-B4-622R; 264 Fatal; Crashed Aichi, Japan;
COMPUTER(auto-throt)
9-14-93 A-320-211; 2 Fatal; Overan R/w & Prang; Warsaw, Poland; COMPUTER
9-28-92 A-300-B4-203; 167 Fatal; Crashed Kathmandu, Nepal; COMPUTER
7-31-92 A-310-304; 113 Fatal; Crashed Kathmandu, Nepal; COMPUTER
1-20-92 A-320-111; 87 Fatal; Crashed St. Odile, France; COMPUTER