Plane crashes in Queens section of New York

NEW YORK (AP) -- An American Airlines Airbus A300 crashed Monday morning in the Queens section of New York, and buildings reportedly were on fire in the neighborhood.

The plane crashed shortly after 9 a.m. and thick, black smoke could be seen miles away.

All metro area airports were closed following the crash, in the Rockaways section of Queens.

The mayor canceled his morning events and headed to the scene.

One eyewitness reported debris falling from sky, and told the Fox News Channel four homes were on fire.

Another told CNN 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."

The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

The crash came two months after the attack on the World Trade Center, which was destroyed by two Boeing 767s hijacked out of Boston's Logan Airport. One of the planes was operated by American, the other by United.