By Ben White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 16, 2001; 3:18 p.m.

NEW YORK, Nov. 16 – Amid growing criticism from the large Dominican community here, American Airlines quietly announced last night that it would soon begin making payments of $25,000 to the families of those killed on Flight 587, which plunged into a Queens neighborhood shortly after takeoff Monday morning en route to Santo Domingo.

Since the crash, family members and advocates for New York's Dominican communityhave criticized American for taking too long to offer compensation and for limiting the number of family members who will be offered free flights back to the Dominican Republic for funerals.

The crash killed nine crew members and 251 passengers – nearly all Dominicans or Dominican Americans – as well as five people on the ground in Belle Harbor on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens.

According to eyewitness accounts, the plane went into a rapid nose dive after the tail fin and both engines snapped off. Investigators believe wake turbulence from a Japan Airlines 747 that took off seconds before Flight 587 may have contributed to the crash. No evidence gathered so far suggests terrorism or other criminal activity but investigators have not ruled out foul play.

A spokesman for the airline told the Long Island newspaper Newsday Thursday night that the $25,000 checks would begin going out to families soon. He said difficulty in identifying next of kin for many of the victims had slowed the distribution of cash. American has made similar $25,000 payments to victims of previous crashes. Families do not forfeit their right to sue upon receiving the payments nor does the airline admit liability.

American spokesman Al Becker said today that the airline also would attempt to be flexible in offering free flights to the Dominican Republic for victims' families. Some victims' families have said representatives from the airline have been reluctant to offer free flights for grandchildren and other extended family members.

"We try to be flexible on a case by case basis," he said. "The bottom line here is that we exercise our best judgment in a situation like this. The definition of 'immediate family' will vary. . . . If an individual had a spouse and seven children and a mother and a father still living, or whatever the case may be, that would be the immediate family. Other families are going to be smaller."

Becker said the airline would handle requests for flights for grandchildren, aunts, uncles and other extended family members on an individual basis. "We are tying to do the right thing," he said, noting that each family has an airline representative – often a Spanish-speaker – assigned to their case.

Community advocates also believe some undocumented Dominicans in New York may not be coming forward to identify loved ones or claim free flights home fearing they will be deported or refused re-entry into the United States.