Memories of Flame: The crash of TWA flight 800 - Admiral Cloudberg - Medium

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Original Article: Memories of Flame: The crash of TWA flight 800 - Admiral Cloudberg - Medium

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Note: this accident was previously featured in episode 26 of the plane crash series on March 3rd, 2018, prior to the series’ arrival on Medium. This article is written without reference to and supersedes the original.

Fires burn on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean following the crash of TWA flight 800. (Newsday)

On the 17th of July 1996, TWA flight 800 exploded and crashed off Long Island, New York, killing all 230 people on board in what remains one of America’s deadliest air disasters. The Boeing 747’s spectacular midair breakup, and the terrifying fate of its passengers and crew, captivated the nation in a way that few plane crashes ever have, before or since. Was the flight brought down by a bomb, a terrorist missile strike, or a catastrophic mechanical failure? It seemed that everyone had an opinion — and an agenda. As the FBI and the NTSB pursued different explanations, the chaos and constantly shifting evidence divided the public and sowed conspiracy theories which persist to this day. In the end, the NTSB published one of the most exhaustive reports in its history, outlining in incredible detail exactly how an escalating chain of events led to a catastrophic explosion of the 747’s center wing fuel tank, ripping the plane in half and sending its burning remains into a long, excruciating death spiral toward the Atlantic Ocean. But the findings, as important as they were, seemingly never caught on with the public, as polls showed that half of Americans did not believe the NTSB’s conclusion that the crash was an accident. What follows is not only a retelling of the cause of the infamous accident, but also a chronology of how the NTSB figured it out, and an attempt to explain the lingering public discontent — the scar left on America’s collective psyche by the crash of TWA flight 800.

N93119, the aircraft involved in the accident. (Alain Durand)

TWA flight 800 checked almost all the boxes that would make a flight special, in the classical sense: it was a prestigious route from New York to Paris, operated by one of America’s oldest and most storied airlines, using a mighty Boeing 747, the timeless Queen of the Skies. Looking back, it was perhaps a relic of an earlier, more glorious era of aviation which had, by 1996, already ended.

The first generation Boeing 747–100 operating the New York-Paris route on the 17th of July that year was already 25 years old, and had been in service with TWA almost continuously since its manufacture in 1971, except for a one year period during which it was sold to the government of Iran but was never delivered. With over 90,000 flying hours under its belt, the airplane, registered as N93119, was nearing the end of its service life and was probably on track to be retired before the year 2000, replaced by something newer, sleeker, and less interesting.

The route of TWA flight 800. (Google + own work)

In command that day was 58-year-old Captain Ralph Kevorkian, who was undergoing a routine line check overseen by 57-year-old Captain/Check Airman Steven Snyder, replacing the position normally held by the First Officer. Rounding out the cockpit crew were 25-year-old trainee Flight Engineer Oliver Krick, who had only flown for TWA for 26 days, and his 63-year-old instructor Richard Campbell Jr., an ex-747 captain who had moved to the flight engineer position after exceeding the retirement age. They would be joined by 212 passengers and a full complement of 14 flight attendants, leaving the massive plane only about half full.

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