American Airlines jet crashes in New York
November 12, 2001 Posted: 10:00 AM EST (1500 GMT)
NEW YORK (CNN) -- An American Airlines jet crashed Monday on takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The plane went down in the Rockways section of the New York City borough of Queens.
CNN confirmed the plane was American Airlines Flight 587 from New York to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The plane was a Boeing Airbus A300. American Airlines did not immediately release the number of passengers on the flight. The A300 can accommodate up to 266 passengers, according to Boeing's Web site
At least four houses were on fire, and a huge plume of smoke could be seen rising from the site.
All three New York City-area airports -- Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark -- closed after the crash. Mayor Rudy Giuliani declared a Level One emergency, mobilizing all available police, fire and emergency personnel.