PLANE CRASHES

WASHINGTON(Reuters) – The FBI, on high alert after the Sept. 11 attacks, said there was no indication that Monday’s crash of an American Airlines jet in New York was a terror attack or that there was an explosion on board.
“Right now we don’t believe it is (a terrorist incident) because we don’t have any information indicating that it is,” Federal Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Tracy Ballinger told Reuters.
The Airbus A300 passenger jet, en route to the Dominican Republican with 255 people on board, crashed while taking off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, plowing through nearby homes. There was no immediate word on casualties.
Another FBI spokeswoman said it was far too early to say what had caused the crash.
“We are not saying that we are investigating any type of explosion,” said the spokeswoman. “It’s far too early to say what caused this,” she added, pointing out that the National Transportation Safety Board was the lead federal agency in the investigation.
A U.S. intelligence official also said there was no indication at this time whether the crash was terrorism related or not.
“There is no indication one way or the other,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “It’s premature,” he said.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing the aircraft’s engine fall off, which was on fire. Then, they said, the plane plunged nose first into the residential neighborhood of the Queens borough.
A retired firefighter said he saw what appeared to be the plane exploding and one of its wings fall off.
The crash comes two months and one day after two hijacked planes were rammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, killing more than 4,500 people. A third plane hit the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.