ABSTRACT
A Dominican mother faints. Her son begins to yell frantically in despair. At
a nearby table, a Dominican man grabs a chair and throws it to the floor. This
is not the horrific scene of a family feud. It is but one example of families who
were just notified on November 12, 2001 that their family member had perished
on American Airlines flight 587 just three minutes after take off, at 9:17 in the
morning. The plane and all on board were bound for the Dominican Republic, but
plunged to the ground in Queens, New York just after lifting off from Kennedy
Airport, only a few miles away. The crash came at a time when many were still
trying to cope with the aftermath of the September 11, 2001.
