Summary of TWA Flight 800 Accident - Essay Example

Summary of TWA Flight 800 Accident TWA Flight 800 was a Boeing 747 plane that left John F. Kennedy airport bound for Charles De Gaulle InternationalAirport in Paris, France, on July 17, 1996. The plane was carrying 230 people in total, including 212 passengers. The plane exploded approximately 10 minutes after takeoff , and all 230 were killed, with the plane considered to be ‘destroyed’, breaking up into pieces and crashing into the Atlantic Ocean. The ‘why’ of the accident is harder to determine, as many conspiracy theories have come to life in the almost 15 years since the accident.

The official cause listed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was one of “fuel tank failure”, stating that the center wing fuel tank exploded. Though no concrete cause was determined for the explosion, most speculate that it was a short circuit of the wiring outside the fuel tank, which then led to a chain reaction and breaking up of the airplane when the fuel ignited. After the TWA Flight 800 accident, measures were taken to prevent another accident from occurring like this one.

The post-accident report of the NTSB focused on safety issues, stating that a contributing factor was the fact that there was a heat source beneath the fuel tank with no way to cool that source, as well as no way to prevent the vapors that were given off by the fuel tank from igniting. In 1997, extensive tests were done to measure fuel output in conditions similar to Flight 800, as well as measure the temperature of the fuel and determine if it was flammable at those temperatures. It was determined that the fuel was indeed flammable, reaching a temperature of almost 127°F.

New designs were immediately proposed for airplanes, not only to change the change the electrical wiring in the airplanes around the fuel tanks but also to add a new system that would cool off the vapor produced by the fuel tank, making the gas “inert”, or not flammable. Source: National Transportation Safety Board. “TWA Flight 800 Accident Investigation”. Published August 23, 2000. http://www.ntsb.gov/events/TWA800/default.htm. Accessed February 12, 2011.