An American Airlines Airbus A-300 carrying 251 passengers and nine crew took off from JFK Airport on Flight 587 destined to the Dominican Republic at 9:14 A.M. on Nov. 12, 2001. The jet crashed into the Belle Harbor residential neighborhood of Rockaway, Queens, NY, three minutes later.
The jet's apparent last position on radar was at an altitude of 2,800 feet at a speed of 306 mph. The Airbus A-300 has two engines, carries between 226-298 passengers, has a fuel capacity of 18,000 gallons and can fly 4,145 miles. The jet, which was built in 1987, was just over 177 feet long with a wingspan of just over 147 feet. The jet's fuselage landed at the corner of Newport Avenue and Beach 131st Street. Four houses were leveled and up to 12 others sustained varying forms of damage.
The FDNY responded to the first report of a crash at 9:17 A.M. Initially, three engines and two ladders under the command of the 47th Battalion responded to Box 1398 at Beach 131st Street and Newport Avenue. Engine 329, located on Beach 169th Street, arrived and transmitted a 10-75, request for a full first alarm assignment. Fire was visible in house on both sides of Beach 131st Street. Handlines were stretched. Eventually, their deck gun was used to hit the heavy fire conditions. Minutes later, second and third alarms were requested. There were reports of fires over an area of several blocks, and power lines were down in many streets.
The signal 10-60 was requested, signaling a major emergency. On the 10-60 signal, if not already on the way, Rescue 3 responds with the collapse unit (the two closest rescue companies are dispatched). Also dispatched are the Hazardous Materials Unit, Hazmat Tech Unit, Squad Company 1 with the Technical Response Vehicle, Tactical Support Unit, Field Communications Unit, Safety Battalion, Special Operations Battalion and the public information officer. A fifth alarm was ordered, bringing to the scene a total of 20 engines, eight trucks, seven battalion chiefs and a deputy chief for the southern half of Queens. Numerous command chiefs also responded.
Because of the heavy smoke and fire conditions, an additional third alarm was transmitted for a separate location a few blocks away. Box 1441 at Beach 131st Street was transmitted for a fire at a gas station where one of the jet's engines landed. Debris was scattered all over a four-block-wide strip of the neighborhood bordered by Jamaica Bay to the north near JFK airport and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Many firefighters and police officers, as well as people who worked in the World Trade Center, who lived in the neighborhood were on Sept. 11. Numerous off-duty firefighters who lived nearby the crash scene responded to help out.
A request was made for a 10-86, Foam Operations, due to the fully loaded jet. More than a dozen engines normally respond ,each dumping their 500-gallon water tank and filling it with 500 gallons of foam concentrate. These engine companies are strategically located throughout the city. The department's Foam Tender carries 3,000 gallons of foam concentrate. Marine Company 6 also responded and operated from a position in Jamaica Bay, two blocks from the scene.
Isolated Location
The area where the fire occurred has suffered many major fires. Wind swept blazes have affected the area for many years. The area is basically isolated and is a peninsula. Fire Apparatus can approach the Rockaways by three directions. Over the Marine Parkway Bridge, units from Brooklyn and other boroughs can approach from the West. Over the Cross Bay Bridge, units from Queens can travel South into the area. From the eastern edge of Rockaway, units from Eastern Queens can respond via the mainland but must travel through Nassau County. Six engines, three ladders are under the command of the 47th Battalion cover the Rockaways.
Many tower ladders responded from a distance to the scene. They were positioned and redirected to gain the closest possible access.
Several tower ladders operated their streams into the main body of fire and onto the exposed houses. One of the homes continued to burn until the natural gas could be shut off in the street. Several handlines were stretched to each of the exposed houses. Numerous handlines operated in the area where the four houses were destroyed.
At first, heavy black smoke blanketed the area. As the fires were knocked down by water or foam, the smoke turned white. When the smoke began to clear, numerous bodies were visible in the street. Neighbors had taken sheets and blankets and firefighters covered the remains.
Several houses were checked for stability. One structure was so visibly damaged that there was no need to enter the remains. A large piece of fuselage was found between two houses. Other large sections of the jet were located elsewhere. The main focus at this time was to remove the passengers and try to locate anybody who had been in the houses near the crash site. The fuselage was crushed. The passenger compartment had been compacted by the impact. Many bodies were on the surface. Firefighters used power saws with metal cutting blades to gain access to the passenger cabin. When the saws couldn't cut all the way through the structural members, battery-operated sawzalls were utilized. Passengers were found close together. As each passenger was removed, another would be lying underneath.
As of the next day, 260 bodies had been recovered. The fire destroyed four homes. Four others were heavily damaged. Twelve other homes in the area were damaged.
Because of the jet's apparent nosedive into the ground, only a small area of the residential neighborhood suffered. A block away a church that had been used over a dozen times for memorial Masses and funerals for those lost in the World Trade Center was spared.
Some interesting observations from the scene of the plane crash when compared to the World Trade Center attack: While looking for victims in the debris field of the World Trade Center, everything was covered with a white dust. The victims and firefighting tools and equipment were hard to detect. At the jet crash, numerous victims were visible in the street. When the fuselage was opened, one after another victim were found. All 260 people aboard the plane were located in the first day. As one of the firefighters was searching the WTC pile, he found a window of one of the jets. He said he hoped he would never find another one. At the Rockaway jet crash site the majority of the jet's fuselage was located in several pieces.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was investigating the crash. A piece of the jet's tail section was found floating in Jamaica Bay a few blocks from the main crash site. Six residents were still unaccounted for. Twenty-five emergency personnel and seven civilians were transported to area hospitals. Another 28 firefighters and two civilians were treated at the scene.
By Harvey Eisner
