Ill-Fated TWA Boeing 747-131 at LAX
280,341
Published 2010-10-03
N93119 / 17119 (cn 20083/153)
NARRATIVE: TWA Boeing 747 N93119 arrived as Flight TW881 from Athens at New York-JFK at 16:31. The airplane was refueled at JFK and remained at gate 27 with the auxiliary power unit (APU) and two of its three air conditioning packs operating for about 2 1/2 hours until it departed as TWA flight 800. The flight was scheduled to depart JFK for Paris about 19:00; however, the flight was delayed because of a disabled piece of ground equipment and concerns about a suspected passenger/baggage mismatch. The aircraft was pushed back from the gate about 20:02. Between 20:05 and 20:07, the flight crew started the Nos. 1, 2, and 4 engines and completed the after-start checklist. The flight crew then received taxi instructions and began to taxi to runway 22R. While the airplane was taxiing, about 20:14, the flight crew started the No. 3 engine and conducted the delayed engine-start and taxi checklists.
At 20:18:21, ATC advised the pilots that the wind was out of 240-degrees at 8 knots and cleared flight 800 for takeoff. After takeoff the pilots received a series of altitude assignments and heading changes from New York Terminal Radar Approach Control and Boston ARTCC controllers. At 20:25:41, Boston ARTCC advised the pilots to climb and maintain FL190 and expedite through FL150.
At 20:26:24, Boston ARTCC amended TWA flight 800's altitude clearance, advising the pilots to maintain FL130. At 20:29:15, the captain stated, "Look at that crazy fuel flow indicator there on number four, see that?" One minute later Boston ARTCC advised them to climb and maintain FL150. The crew then selected climb thrust. About that time the CVR stopped recording at 20:31:12. At that moment, the crew of an Eastwind Airlines Boeing 737 flying nearby reported seeing an explosion. The aircraft broke up and debris fell into the sea, 8 miles south off East Moriches.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "An explosion of the center wing fuel tank (CWT), resulting from ignition of the flammable fuel/air mixture in the tank. The source of ignition energy for the explosion could not be determined with certainty, but, of the sources evaluated by the investigation, the most likely was a short circuit outside of the CWT that allowed excessive voltage to enter it through electrical wiring associated with the fuel quantity indication system.
Contributing factors to the accident were the design and certification concept that fuel tank explosions could be prevented solely by precluding all ignition sources and the design and certification of the Boeing 747 with heat sources located beneath the CWT with no means to reduce the heat transferred into the CWT or to render the fuel vapor in the tank nonflammable."
Shot by my friend Craig Pilkington (Aviation Media ©).
Edited / uploaded by me with the kind permission of Aviation Media ©
All Comments (21)
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I flew that one from STL-HNL and back in April of 1992. I know because the picture of the plane home from Hawaii was the last photo we took. It captured the number clearly in the front. N93119. A week after TWA 800 crashed, I dug up the picture to check the number...you talk about chills. God rest their souls.
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Wow. My parents were good friends with the flight engineer on that fatal flight, Ollie Krick. My dad told me a story about a week prior to the accident, he had pulled up in front of my parent’s house with a brand new car.
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Hard to believe that this exact same plane would later be involved in one of the most horrific aviation disasters in history. Rest in peace to those on board TWA 800.
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wow....amazing to see the plane before the tragic accident...My heart goes out to the families of all who died on TWA800.
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That was one hell of a wheelie during the take off!
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TWA and Pan Am had the best liveries imo.
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God Bless N93119 and my f/a brothers and sisters on 800....it was a bad day for all of us at TWA....I worked this 74 in 84 a year before I retired....it was the last 74 I would work....a great loss....prayers and thoughts to the passengers families and thoughts and prayers to the crew and f/a's...
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Creepy and sad. But what a beautiful plane those early model 747's were.
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Im a late night freight driver on a 74-8, one of the guys I fly w/ was a former flight engineer for TWA on the 74's and knew the crew very well. The aviation community driving the queen of the skies is a small community (for those of us that are left) and our numbers keep shrinking
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Remember flight TWA 800 and 230 passengers
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When everyone heard about TWA's explosion for the first time, it shattered everyone's hearts forever and to this day, it remains and haunts us every now and then! R.I.P to the souls onboard.
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My first plane ride ever was on a TWA 747 in March or April of 1970. They were pretty new then, and TWA was the first operator to place them in domestic service. I remember the pilot telling us and approach to JFK that we had nearly enough fuel to fly all the way back to Los Angeles! I was the subject of much envy by my high school classmates upon my return.
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V1. Rotate. Wait for it. Waaait for it. Liftoff!
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Just before she spent 25 years in retirement as a display ornament. She'd be a 50 year old 747 today (possibly scrapped or used in aerial fire fighting). God speed ol girl.
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Thanks for the comment! Only VHS copies were sold, no DVD's were ever put out. At one point I had uploaded all three productions, "Plane Spotters", "The Mighty DC-8" & "The Legendary 707" for people to enjoy. The music tracks that were used in the productions (which were bought, BTW), triggered some kind of thing on YouTube, basically saying that I didn't have the right to publish the content, so they're down.
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The audio is chilling. I believe the last thing the pilot says to the ATC was an acknowledgement of 15,000 feet to Boston center. Then you hear a delta pilot say he saw an explosion that went down to the water. Boston Center tries Twa 800 and there is just dead silence. Delta pilot says “I think that was them.”Boston Center says “I think so,” finally you hear the Delta pilot day “God bless them.”
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This gave a chill down my spine. Flew JFK - LHR on this bird about a fortnight before this happened. And i wasn't even booked on TWA. I should have flown back with KU that day, but i got bounced (along with 8 other passengers) onto the TWA flight. I remember looking in my JP at the time, and thinking that this aircraft was an NTU for the Iranian Air Force ! Fantastic flight and a surpisingly clean aircraft inside and the crew were fantastic. I got pics of the cabin as we were boarding. RIP to all the lives lost that day in that catastrophic accident. So sad.
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Very heartbreaking, R.I.P TWA 800.
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Wow. Thanks for posting this. Today is the 16 year Anniversary and I remember it like it was yesterday. Never Forget, RIP TWA 800
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What a beauty 747...!
