Pentagon not alerted until plane crashed

The Pentagon said it was not told of any alert until after the plane had gone down, it was reported.

No fighter jets were scrambled, as has happened with previous security alerts involving jets since the September 11 terror attacks.

It was reported that the Federal Aviation Authority said there was no evidence of a terrorist attacks.

But later the FAA was said ‘‘all options are open.’’

Bill Schumann of the FAA said there was no immediate indication of what caused the crash.

One eyewitness reported debris falling from sky, and said four homes were on fire.

Another said he was 40 blocks away and saw ‘‘Just a lot of smoke. Tons and tons of smoke. You can see emergency vehicles heading to area. Lots of people are standing in the streets. It’s very tense.’’

Another eyewitness said that she heard a loud explosion and reported seeing pieces of ‘‘silvery metal’’ falling from the sky.

She added: ‘‘I didn’t hear an explosion at first ... I heard an explosion - a big bang - boom - in front of the house.’’