When Elizabeth Moye turned on the news yesterday morning and heard that a plane had crashed in a Queens neighborhood, her initial response was markedly detached.
"I was surprised, but at the same time it was just like more of the same," Moye said.
"There have been so many surprises in the past couple of months that by now it's like, 'Oh, more news,'" she added.
Like many students, Moye said she thought her reaction to the news of the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 yesterday morning in Rockaway, N.Y., was decidedly different than it might have been before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Students' reactions to the plane crash ranged from heightened anxiety to relative indifference. And as many students prepare to travel home next week for Thanksgiving break, some have even reacted with fear, as the idea of boarding a plane now seems much less appealing than it did just two days ago.
Despite assertions by aviation experts that the crash was caused by a mechanical failure, many students said they immediately assumed that the fatal flight was related to terrorism.
Engineering sophomore Jonathan Slaughter said that in the aftermath of September's terrorist attacks, this assumption initially seemed to be the most logical explanation for the crash, though he added that "a few months ago terrorism would never have come across my mind."
Kellie Flanagan, a graduate student in the School of Social Work, said that a sense of heightened anxiety since Sept. 11 made the news of yesterday's plane crash even more shocking.
"It brought back a lot of feelings that I had on September 11," Flanagan said. She added that she spent the day feeling "very anxious and upset."
And many students said they are not looking forward to traveling by plane in the future.
Some admit they have even changed their holiday travel plans after hearing about yesterday's tragedy.
"I'm not flying home for Thanksgiving, for sure," Moye said.
"I wasn't sure before, but I'm definitely taking the train now," the Pittsburgh resident added.
But others said they feel no less safe in the air or on the ground than they did before.
"I'm not paranoid at this point that terrorists are always trying to crash planes into buildings," College junior Donniel Astor said.
"I'm more worried about getting into a car accident than getting attacked by a terrorist," he added.
Many students who have already arranged to fly for Thanksgiving or winter break said they still plan to travel by plane.
"I'm not overly concerned about it," Wharton junior Steve Brown said. "I realize that accidents do happen, but it's probably a lot safer to fly than to drive."
Whether or not they experienced a heightened fear for their personal safety, students agreed that they felt greater sympathy than ever for residents of New York City.
"It seems like New York is the center of destruction," Moye said. "Today I just felt like the world was going into more and more chaos."
Slaughter added that he feels "a little more sensitive to people than a couple of months ago."
"I can feel a lot more for the victims and the victims' families," he added.
Flanagan, who worked with foster care children in Rockaway, said she was concerned about the residents of the neighborhood where the plane's wreckage caused the destruction of several residences.
"While there was relief [that the crash was not terrorist-related], I'm still saddened by the fact that so many people died on the plane, and the fact that it was in a residential area," Flanagan said.
