Passenger jet crashes in New York

Hundreds are feared dead after an airliner crashed and exploded in flames in New York today - only two months after the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Although there were initial fears that terrorism could have again brought scenes of disaster to American TV screens, early reports said the plane could have suffered engine failure on take-off. One of the plane's engines fell separately from the main wreckage.

One eye-witness said they saw an engine explode and the plane was on fire in the seconds before it came down. Another said the plane itself appeared to explode in mid-air. Wreckage was spread over a wide area.

The American Airlines flight destroyed four buildings as it came down in the Queens district, one of the most populated parts of New York. Part of the wreckage smashed into a petrol station.

Today is Veterans' Day, a public holiday in the United States, and there are fears that the death toll on the ground could be even higher as few people had left for work.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 96.6 points to 9511.40. The Nasdaq index dropped 35 points to 1793.48.

The London stock market panicked as TV pictures of the crash flashed around dealing rooms. The FTSE-100 Index was down by 178.9 points at on stage but recovered by more than 100 points.

Gold raced to a one-month high of $280 and ounce and the US dollar to a one-month low of less than 119.75 yen in immediate reaction to the news.

In the minutes after the crash an F-15 Eagle jet fighter flew over the crash scene as a thick pall of black smoke rose into the morning sky.

Flight 587, an Airbus A300, had just taken off from JFK en route to Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic when it crashed three minutes later just five miles from the airport having taken off half an hour late at 9.14am (2.14pm GMT).

The exact number of casualties was not immediately known but the wide-bodied plane had 246 people including nine crew on board. One hundred and fifty of those on board were from the Dominican Republic.

Accident investigators said there had been no 'unusual communications' between the cockpit and air traffic control prior to the crash. The flight data recorder 'black box' has been recovered.

The American airline industry is in a state of the highest alert since the 11 September attacks but the Federal Aviation Administration also said there was no immediate suggestion that terrorism was to blame.

Fire and ambulance crews rushed to the scene, a residential area near to Rockaway Beach in the borough of Queens. Witnesses reported hearing a loud noise while the plane was still in the sky.

Beverly Browne, from Brooklyn, said she saw white smoke coming from the plane before it crashed.

"The wings were going backwards and forwards like it was trying to balance itself. There was white smoke coming out of it. It just couldn't seem to stabilise itself. The next thing I knew it had crashed."

Susan Locke, who lives a few blocks away from the crash, said she saw it coming "straight down" in the middle of a residential area.

"I didn't hear an explosion. I heard a rumble that shook my house. I looked out and saw it go straight down.

"I didn't see any smoke. It wasn't coming down on its belly, but nose down. It might not have been at 90 degrees but it was certainly head first."

Debbie Ciuffo saw a piece off the plane and then saw it spin out of control to the ground.

"I saw something drop off it and then it just spun to the ground.," she said. " I thought 'oh, my god, those poor people'. I pulled over to the side of the road and emergency crews raced past."

The crash site is densely populated with lots of small homes. There is also a Jewish school nearby, which was closed for Veterans' Day, according to reports.

Another witness said he was 40 blocks away and saw "just a lot of smoke. Tons and tons of smoke. You can see emergency vehicles heading to area. Lots of people are standing in the streets. It's very tense."

An unnamed woman said she had seen a "fireball" as the plane hit a building behind her home. "I saw this hit the house right behind my house," she said. "It seemed so low that I was ducking, almost. Then there was this enormous-fireball." She added: "It is utter terror here, everybody's just in shock. It's hard to believe, you don't think it's going to hit this close to home."

All three major airports in the New York area, JFK, La Guardia and Newark were closed.

New York's Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani was on his way to the crash scene within minutes.

"The first thing I thought was 'Oh my God' he said. "We have no reason to think it any other than an accident at this stage. But our minds are aware of the events of 11 September ."

He said the Rockaway district was particularly badly hit by the terrorist attacks two months ago. "I have been here 20 times for funerals and wakes for World Trade Center workers, police and firefighters who lived here."

New Yorker's, who were just beginning to recover from the 11 September horrors, were again watching scenes of disaster on morning TV. Three rescue helicopters hovered over the crash scene.

A New York Fire Department spokesman said 44 units and 198 firefighters have responded to the scene. Many came straight from a memorial service being held for their colleagues killed in the September outrage.

New York's Office of Emergency Management said all bridges and tunnels in the city were closed except to emergency vehicles.

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.

In Downing Street, Tony Blair said his thoughts were with the American people, but it was too early to speculate on the cause of the crash.

"I don't think it would be sensible certainly for us on the basis of the information we have to speculate any further," he said.

A spokesman for Heathrow said: "In the light of today's events in New York, Heathrow is closely monitoring developments.

"There is likely to be serious disruption to transatlantic flights and all passengers on routes to North America are advised to contact their airline before setting out for the airport."

Witness Eddie Niedes said he saw an engine on the wing blow up seconds before the plane plunged to the ground.

"It was flying fine with no problems. It seemed to be on a normal flightpath.

"Then the engine on the right side blew up and it went straight down into a nosedive. There were flames on the right hand side.

"It was very fast. I don't think the pilot had any choice but to go straight down."

He added: "It was very very frightening. I was watching the plane from my office all the way along and it blew up right in front of my eyes."

A US official said 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.

Don Carty, CEO of American Airlines said today was "an incredibly sad day" and confirmed that at this stage, there was no indication of what had caused the accident.

Mr Giuliani appealed for people to stay calm, saying President George Bush was "on top of it".

Mr Giuliani added: "We asked for air cover. The airports have been closed for a while, just for a precaution.

"We should really focus all of our efforts on trying to see if we can find survivors."

Click here for video footage
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Eyewitness reports of the crash
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