Accident News

NTSB MARKS 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF CRASH OF TWA 800

Washington DC - With the 10th anniversary of the crash of TWA Flight 800 approaching, the National Transportation Safety Board today released a fact sheet that reviews lessons learned from the accident investigation and the progress toward ensuring that similar tragedies do not happen in the future.
The Board's review found that significant safety improvements have been implemented over the past ten years, but that more needs to be done to avoid another accident like TWA 800.

TWA 800, a Boeing 747, crashed on July 17, 1996, minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport on a flight to Paris, France. All 230 persons aboard the airplane died in the accident. The Safety Board conducted an exhaustive four-year investigation and determined that the accident was caused by an explosion in the center wing fuel tank, resulting from ignition of the flammable fuel/air mixture in the tank.

"The crash of TWA 800 was a watershed event for the air carrier industry," said NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker. "In the intervening years, a lot of thought and effort has been devoted to the issues raised by this accident, and the public is safer for it."

The most prominent issues raised by the TWA 800 accident concern protection against flammable fuel tank vapors and aging electrical systems. Read more at ntsb.gov

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	Did You Know?
	Blood Alcohol levels of 1.0 in a crash can be a criminal charge. State laws in 31 states make it a criminal offense to operate a motor vehicle at a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10 g/dl. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have adopted 0.08 g/dl. Two states and Puerto Rico do not have illegal per se BAC levels.