Victims' Families Call For Action On Fuel Tank Safety

It was 10 years ago today -- July 17, 1996 -- that TWA Flight 800 exploded in the sky above the Atlantic Ocean... crashing into the water and killing all 230 people on board.

The NTSB conducted a painstaking investigation into the crash -- one that saw salvage crews scour the ocean floor for wreckage, which was then meticulously reconstructed. The result of that investigation: TWA 800 was killed by an explosion in its center-line fuel tank... an explosion caused by a wiring malfunction and fed by vapors from the partially-filled tank itself.

A full decade later... the chairman of the NTSB and members of Congress are furious that the FAA has failed to implement measures the safety board says would eliminate these types of accidents in commercial planes.

Just last week, ANN reported on the NTSB's investigation into the explosion of a Transmile 727 wing tank -- one that had been retrofitted according to the FAA's latest instructions -- also caused by arcing along a wiring conduit inside the fuel tank itself.

The NTSB says... had the explosion happened while that 727 was in the air... the plane would have undoubtedly crashed.

So, what's the answer? The NTSB advocates filling partially-empty fuel tanks with inert gas to counteract the fuel vapors. Even the FAA's research shows this method, using nitrogen, for instance, would be 100-percent effective in stopping this type of fuel tank explosion.

"This is an important issue which must be resolved," said Long Island Representative Pete King.

And yet, the FAA has so far failed to require the use of inert gases to prevent such explosions. Only last year did the FAA propose such a rule. Will it become reality? We won't know until sometime later this year.

We do know that the Air Transport Association, which lobbies for 19 different US airlines... opposes such a requirement... saying the NTSB and others have overstated the danger of fuel tank explosions. Simply put, says the ATA, the benefits outweigh the cost.

That enrages those who lost family members and friends aboard TWA 800.

"Our children, our husbands, our wives, our loved ones died because the FAA did not act responsibly," said John Seaman, chairman of the Families of TWA Flight 800 Association -- and whose 19-year-old niece died in the crash. "Congress needs to get to the bottom of this."

FMI: Read The NTSB Report On The Downing Of TWA Flight 800