White House official doubts terrorism is involved

By Ron Fournier

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said there were no unusual communications from the cockpit of an American Airlines plane that crashed today in New York, and a senior administration official added, “It’s looking like it’s not a terrorist attack.”

Fleischer said President Bush was informed of the crash within minutes of its occurrence in a residential section of Queens, and that Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge hastened to the White House Situation Room to confer with other senior officials on a conference call.

At a White House briefing, Fleischer said the National Transportation Safety Board had been named the lead investigative agency into the crash, in which an Airbus crashed shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. That signaled that authorities have no information other than that a malfunction – and not a terrorist attack – brought down the plane with a large loss of live.

The spokesman declined to rule terrorism in or out as a possible cause of the attack, 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.

Asked about statements made by other officials that there is no evidence of terrorism, Fleischer said there was “understandable reason” why those comments had been made. “The president is aware of the statements that have been made by the other officials,” he added, although declining to confirm them.

With the nation on high alert, a result of the Sept. 11 attacks, Fleischer said Bush 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 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.

The crash triggered moments of intense concern inside the administration, 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. “It’s looking like it’s not a terrorist attack, but we can’t reach a firm conclusion yet,” said one senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

While Fleischer declined to second that, he said the president was aware of those reports. The spokesman added there was “understandable reason” why those statements had been made.

While the New York area airports were closed in the wake of the crash, Fleischer said officials did not intend to shut down the nation’s airline system, as was done following the hijackings of Sept. 11.

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 current environment,” the official said.