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How Will Queens Crash Affect My Trip?
The Travel Troubleshooter · November 12, 2001

This morning's crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in Queens, New York - whether caused by a mechanical or man-made circumstances - is leaving many air travelers shaken and confused.

It's bad enough that this latest air disaster happened just two months after the worst hijacking incident in U.S. aviation history. But the latest tragedy adds insult to injury, coming just a week before the busy holiday travel season is set to begin.

What do you do if you're holding tickets on a flight now? And will you be able to change your plans if you're flying somewhere for Thanksgiving?

If you're on a flight into or out of New York today, you're not going anywhere. All area airports - Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark - were shut down following the crash. All bridges and tunnels in the city were closed except to emergency vehicles. There's no word on when the airports and roads will reopen.

If you're on a flight with a layover in New York, contact your airline immediately. If you want to proceed with your trip, ask to be rebooked on the next available flight to your destination. Under most circumstances, your airline will comply with your request. However, air carriers have what's called a Force Majeure clause that essentially says they aren't responsible for "for any failure or delay in operating any flight due to causes beyond carrier's control."

This basically means that the airline still must transport you from point 'A' to point 'B,' but if you are otherwise inconvenienced - if you have to spend a night somewhere or are stuck at the airport for an extended period of time - then the airline isn't obligated to offer you hotel and meal vouchers.

Don't bother visiting your airlines' Web site, particularly American Airlines' site, until later today. American's site actually went down for about 20 minutes after the Queens disaster. When it came back up, it offered scant information and the following notice: "News reports indicate an aircraft incident occurred today over the New York City area. Information will be posted here as it becomes available."

If you want to cancel your trip because of concerns about air travel safety, there's a good chance you can get your money back for a limited time. The U.S. airline industry set a precedent in September after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks when it allowed travelers to cancel or rebook their trips, regardless of the restrictions on their tickets. Tickets were refunded for future travel but the refunds had to be made within about a month of the disaster.

There's no telling if the airlines will follow this precedent now. It's far more likely that only American will offer that kind of a generous refund policy, since it was directly affected by the crash. A quick poll of other airlines after this morning's crash found that none of them were offering the same refunds that they did after September 11, but that may change later today.

The question is, should you cancel your trip? Early indications are that this crash wasn't related to the terrorist attacks of two months ago. In fact, this is just the 12th American Airlines incident with passenger fatalities, according to the Web site Airsafe.com. It is only the ninth fatal incident involving an Airbus A300.

What does that mean? Despite today's horrific events, flying on American Airlines in general, and an Airbus A-300 aircraft in particular, remains extremely safe. You could cancel you trip, maybe even get all of your money back, but odds are that if you flew over the holidays, your trip would go off without a hitch.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. ChrisCrossings appears weekly on this site.