TWA Flight 800 (1964)
1964 aviation accident / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Trans World Airlines Flight 800 was an international scheduled passenger service from Kansas City, Missouri to Cairo, Egypt via Chicago, New York City, Paris, Milan, Rome, and Athens. The Boeing 707 crashed during take off on runway 25 at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, Rome at 13:09 GMT[1] on a flight to Athens International Airport, Greece on November 23, 1964.
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Occurrence | |
---|---|
Date | November 23, 1964 |
Summary | Thrust reverser malfunction followed by runway excursion |
Site | Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, Rome, Italy 41°48′10″N 12°14′15″E |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Boeing 707-331 |
Operator | Trans World Airlines |
Registration | N769TW |
Flight origin | Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport, Kansas City, Missouri |
1st stopover | O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois |
2nd stopover | John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York |
3rd stopover | Orly Airport, Paris, France |
4th stopover | Milan Malpensa Airport, Milan, Italy |
5th stopover | Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, Rome, Italy |
6th stopover | Ellinikon International Airport, Athens, Greece |
Destination | Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt |
Passengers | 62 |
Crew | 11 |
Fatalities | 50 |
Injuries | 23 |
Survivors | 23 |
As the aircraft reached 80 knots during its take off roll, the instruments for engine number 4 indicated zero thrust. The flight crew assumed that this engine had failed; since the aircraft was below its V1, the safest course of action was to abort the take off, which was done when the aircraft was around 800 metres along the runway. This was accomplished by ordering full reverse thrust on all engines, as well as deploying their thrust reversers. The aircraft began to slow down, but not as quickly as expected. Its steering was also not functioning normally.
When a compactor began to cross the runway, the aircraft was unable to avoid striking it. Eventually the aircraft stopped a further 260 metres down the runway, and an evacuation began. This being said, smoke and flames blocked most of the passenger exits, making escape slow, and after only 23 of the 73 people on board had evacuated, the aircraft exploded, killing the remaining 50.
A prominent fatality was passenger the Most Reverend Edward Celestin Daly, OP, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, in the United States, who had just participated in Vatican Council II.