FBI: No evidence of terrorism

A US official said 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.

’’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 the current environment,’’ the official said.

The Airbus had been scheduled to leave at 8 am (1300 Irish Time) and arrive in Santo Domingo at 1248 (1448 Irish Time).

’’All of the sudden, I see an engine fall off, and it went to the side, and in 10, 15 seconds it went down,’’ witness Kevin O’Rourke said. ‘‘An engine fell off.’’

Witness Phyllis Paul heard the engine. ‘‘It was very, very loud. Because of what happened September 11, it gave me a chill,’’ she said.

‘‘It was getting louder and louder and I looked out the window. I saw a piece of metal falling from the sky.’’

Witness Eddie Niedes said he saw an engine on the wing blow up seconds before the plane plunged to the ground.

‘‘It was flying fine with no problems. It seemed to be on a normal flightpath.

‘‘Then the engine on the right side blew up and it went straight down into a nosedive. There were flames on the right hand side.

‘‘It was very fast. I don’t think the pilot had any choice but to go straight down.’’

He added: ‘‘It was very very frightening. I was watching the plane from my office all the way along and it blew up right in front of my eyes.’’