WASHINGTON, Nov 13: Fighter aircraft were scrambled and put in the air over New York and other locations around the country as a precaution on Monday in the immediate aftermath of an American Airlines plane crash in New York, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Command (NORAD) said.

“We scrambled additional NORAD fighters in the immediate aftermath of the plane crash,” said Army Major Terry Venable, the spokesman for the command in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“It was a precautionary measure,” he said. “Given the unknowns of the situation of what may have caused the crash it was prudent to put some assets in the air,” he said.

The American Airlines A300 slammed into a residential area in the New York City borough of Queens, killing all 260 people on board and destroying homes.

The National Transportation Safety Board said early signs pointed to a catastrophic mechanical failure on board the plane.

Venable said the fighter jets were put up over New York and various other locations which he would not identify.

Fighter jets were in the air over the city at the time of the crash but played no role in the crash, Venable said earlier.

The 24-hour combat air patrols were established over New York and Washington after hijacked airliners were flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon September 11, killing thousands of people.

“A CAP represents a very high state of alert. We maintain our high state of alert,” he said.—AFP