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| Title: | In-flight Breakup Over The Atlantic Ocean, Trans World Airlines Flight 800, Boeing 747-131, N93119, Near East Moriches, New York, July 17, 1996 |
| Micro summary: | This Boeing 747 exploded shortly after takeoff from New York. |
| Event Time: | 1996-07-17 at 2031 EDT |
| File Name: | 1996-07-17-US.pdf |
| Publishing Agency: | National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) |
| Publishing Country: | USA |
| Report number: | NTSB/AAR-00/03 |
| Pages: | 341 |
| Site of event: | Climb, 8 miles south of East Moriches, NY |
| Latitude/Longitude: | N40°37'42" W72°40'48" N40°40'12" W72°35'38" |
| Departure: | John F. Kennedy International Airport, Jamaica, New York, USA |
| Destination: | Charles De Gaulle International Airport (Roissy Airport), Paris, France |
| Airplane Type(s): | Boeing 747-131 |
| Flight Phase: | Climb |
| Registration(s): | N93119 |
| Operator(s): | Trans World Airlines |
| Type of flight: | Revenue |
| Occupants: | 230 |
| Fatalities: | 230 |
| Serious Injuries: | 0 |
| Minor/Non-Injured: | 0 |
| Other Injuries: | 0 |
| Executive Summary: | Abstract: This report explains the accident involving Trans World Airlines, Inc. flight 800, which experienced an in-flight breakup and then crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996. Safety issues in the report focus on fuel tank flammability, fuel tank ignition sources, design and certification standards, and the maintenance and aging of aircraft systems. Safety recommendations concerning these issues are addressed to the Federal Aviation Administration. Executive Summary On July 17, 1996, about 2031 eastern daylight time, Trans World Airlines, Inc. (TWA) flight 800, a Boeing 747-131, N93119, crashed in the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York. TWA flight 800 was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 as a scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York, New York, to Charles DeGaulle International Airport, Paris, France. The flight departed JFK about 2019, with 2 pilots, 2flight engineers, 14 flight attendants, and 212 passengers on board. All 230 people on board were killed, and the airplane was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the TWA flight 800 accident was an explosion of the center wing fuel tank (CWT), resulting from ignition of the flammable fuel/air mixture in the tank. The source of ignition energy for the explosion could not be determined with certainty, but, of the sources evaluated by the investigation, the most likely was a short circuit outside of the CWT that allowed excessive voltage to enter it through electrical wiring associated with the fuel quantity indication system. Contributing factors to the accident were the design and certification concept that fuel tank explosions could be prevented solely by precluding all ignition sources and the design and certification of the Boeing 747 with heat sources located beneath the CWT with no means to reduce the heat transferred into the CWT or to render the fuel vapor in the tank nonflammable. The safety issues in this report focus on fuel tank flammability, fuel tank ignition sources, design and certification standards, and the maintenance and aging of aircraft systems. Safety recommendations concerning these issues are addressed to the Federal Aviation Administration. |
| Learning Keywords: | Operations - Maintenance |
| Systems - Fuel | |
| Systems - Fuel - Explosion | |
| Consequence - Damage - Airframe or fuselage | |
| Consequence - Flight Attendant Fatality - Injury | |
| Consequence - Hull Loss |
| Close match: | Airplane exploded at gate, Aircraft Accident Report, Thai Airways International Company Limited, Boeing Company 737-400, HS-TDC |
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