@aircrashbriefs: In July 1996, TWA Flight 800 (a Boeing 747-100) took off from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, bound for Paris. Just 12 minutes into the flight, while climbing through 13,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean, the aircraft suddenly vanished from radar. Witnesses on the coastline reported seeing a streak of light followed by a massive fireball in the night sky. The jumbo jet violently broke apart in mid-air, plummeting into the ocean and killing all 230 people on board. Because of the suddenness of the explosion and the eyewitness reports of a "streak of light," wild theories immediately spread that the plane had been shot down by a terrorist surface-to-air missile or a rogue US Navy strike. However, the four-year, $40 million NTSB investigation—the largest and most expensive in US history, which involved dredging the ocean floor and physically reassembling the shattered 747 inside a massive hangar—revealed the terrifying mechanical truth. A fatal spark from severely degraded, short-circuiting electrical wiring had traveled into the plane’s virtually empty Center Wing Fuel Tank. The spark instantly ignited the highly flammable jet fuel vapors baking inside the tank, causing a catastrophic internal explosion that physically blew the nose off the aircraft. This disaster fundamentally changed how modern passenger aircraft handle fuel. It forced the FAA to mandate sweeping, immediate inspections of aging airplane wiring and, most importantly, required all commercial jetliners to be equipped with Nitrogen Generation Systems. These systems pump inert nitrogen gas into empty fuel tanks as they drain, completely eliminating the oxygen needed for vapors to ever ignite or explode again. #TWAFlight800 #AirCrashInvestigation #AviationHistory #FlightSafety #Boeing747

Puke Nightwalker :

The front fell off

amelia :

exactly what I need to see as im waiting to depart on my flight 🤗

James :

I don't think the front is supposed to fall off

=͟͟͞͞Hasel 💢x🕷/🚨 :

I can't imagine how terrified the innocent passengers were ☹️

ash :

Final destination

Darrel :

That’s why I’m always nervous to go on planes ✈️

爪丨乂乇尺 :

Dang that so sad no survivors

Adam99992 :

Fun fact: Volée Airlines Flight 180 from Final Destination was inspired by TWA 800

Jen :

This was the longest investigation in NTSB history

Jeremy Holler-@@@@ :

So the original Final Destination

Giash1 :

I've watched this, now I could fly a plane.

Knightsister :

….Final Destination came out a few years after this 🤔🤔

gagasastar ✈️ :

That’s actually terrifying, imagine being inside the fuselage while the cockpit is gone and the whole thing in engulfed in flames. R.I.P to everyone who passed away.

frank k :

No I feel bad

Andy :

Final destination was based loosely on this

Belikeearl :

I remember this being all over the news. people claimed it was shot down by a plane, bazooka or a bomb. Even after the tsa report people claimed foul

Oliver leite :

Is this a series or does he made them

evolution399 :

WHY ALWAYS BOEING 😳😳😳😳😳????

Afunaduula Isaac :

and this is how we got one of the best movies of all time... final destination😁

Aviation.S✈️👨‍✈️ :

first

Cut2theChase99 :

So what happened?

Darth Vader :

Ngl why would they decide to risk it and fly to test it 😭😭

Mcglass :

New air crash investigation is so mid

John Schmitt :

NoMoreRhymesNowIMeanIt :

SAM