Nov. 12, 2001 – American Airlines representatives on St. Thomas said Monday that the carrier's flight scheduled to depart Cyril E. King Airport at 2:45 p.m. for the trip back to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City was expected to take off as scheduled.
That flight departed JFK at 8 a.m., prior to the crash in the New York borough of Queen Monday morning, and arrived on St. Thomas on schedule, the representatives, who declined to give their names, said.
The local schedule has not thus far been affected by the crash of the American Airlines A300 airbus in New York, they said.
The airline put out the following statement at 9:20 a.m., shortly after the crash: "Flight 587, an American Airlines airbus A300 aircraft en route from New York Kennedy to Santo Domingo, crashed today near Kennedy airport. The preliminary passenger list indicates the aircraft carried 246 passengers and a crew of nine. American Airlines will not speculate as to possible causes of the accident. At this point, no additional details can be confirmed."
Family members seeking information about passengers may contact American Airlines at the toll-free number 1-800-245-0999.
According to network television reports, airports at other U.S. cities also were closed temporarily Monday morning. Information on other carriers' flights into and out of the Virgin Islands and San Juan, P.R., was not immediately available. A Port Authority worker at the airport said Monday's CEK schedule of flights incoming from the mainland consisted of five American, two Delta and one USAirways planes. The other national carriers serving the airport, Continental and United, have flights to the territory only on weekends, she said.
