True Crime-Paranormal-Conspiracy Theories Stories Part V #Wattys2023

TWA Flight 800 Part I

Trans World Airlines Flight 800(TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into theAtlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, atabout 8:31 pm. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. KennedyInternational Airport, on a scheduled international passenger flightto Rome, with a stopover in Paris. All 230 people on board died inthe crash; it is the third-deadliest aviation accident in U.S.history. Accident investigators from the National TransportationSafety Board (NTSB) traveled to the scene, arriving the followingmorning amid speculation that a terrorist attack was the cause of thecrash. Consequently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) andNew York Police Department Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF)initiated a parallel criminal investigation. Sixteen months later,the JTTF announced that no evidence of a criminal act had been foundand closed its active investigation.

The four-year NTSB investigationconcluded with the approval of the Aircraft Accident Report on August23, 2000, ending the most extensive, complex and costly air disasterinvestigation in U.S. history at that time. The report's conclusionwas that the probable cause of the accident was explosion offlammable fuel vapors in the center fuel tank. Although it could notbe determined with certainty, the likely ignition source was a shortcircuit.  Problems with the aircraft's wiring were found, includingevidence of arcing in the fuel quantity indication system (FQIS)wiring that enters the tank. The FQIS on Flight 800 is known to havebeen malfunctioning; the captain remarked on "crazy"readings from the system about 2 minutes and 30 seconds before theaircraft exploded. As a result of the investigation, new requirementswere developed for aircraft to prevent future fuel tank explosions.

Accident flight

The accident airplane, registrationN93119 (a Boeing 747-131), was manufactured by Boeing in July 1971;it had been ordered by Eastern Air Lines, but after Eastern cancelledits 747 orders, the plane was purchased new by Trans World Airlines.The aircraft had completed 16,869 flights with 93,303 hours ofoperation and was powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7AHturbofan engines. On the day of the accident, the airplane departedfrom Ellinikon International Airport in Athens, Greece, as TWA Flight881 and arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) about4:38 pm. The aircraft was refueled, and a crew change was made; thenew flight crew consisted of 58-year-old Captain Ralph G. Kevorkian(who had flown for TWA for 31 years and the U.S. Air Force for 9years), 57-year-old Captain/Check Airman Steven E. Snyder (who hadflown for TWA for 32 years), and 63-year-old Flight Engineer/CheckAirman Richard G. Campbell Jr. (who had flown for TWA for 30 yearsand the U.S. Air Force for 12 years), as well as 25-year-old flightengineer trainee Oliver Krick (who previously served as a businesspilot for 4 years), who had flown for TWA for 26 days and wasstarting the sixth leg of his initial operating experience training.

The ground-maintenance crew locked outthe thrust reverser for engine #3 (treated as a minimum equipmentlist item) because of technical problems with the thrust reversersensors during the landing of TWA 881 at JFK, prior to Flight 800'sdeparture. Additionally, severed cables for the engine #3 thrustreverser were replaced. During refueling of the aircraft, thevolumetric shutoff (VSO) control was believed to have been triggeredbefore the tanks were full. To continue the pressure fueling, a TWAmechanic overrode the automatic VSO by pulling the volumetric fuseand an overflow circuit breaker. Maintenance records indicate thatthe aircraft had numerous VSO-related maintenance writeups in theweeks before the accident.

TWA 800 was scheduled to depart JFK forCharles de Gaulle Airport around 7:00 pm, but the flight was delayeduntil 8:02 pm by a disabled piece of ground equipment and apassenger/baggage mismatch.  After the owner of the baggage inquestion was confirmed to be on board, the flight crew prepared fordeparture, and the aircraft pushed back from Gate 27 at the TWAFlight Center. The flight crew started the engines at 8:04 pm.However, because of the previous maintenance undertaken on engine #3,the flight crew only started engines #1, #2, and #4. Engine #3 wasstarted 10 minutes later at 8:14 pm. Taxi and takeoff proceededuneventfully.