When we noted that the huge reconstruction of the 747-100 that became famous in the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 was moving to its new facility in Virginia ["Flight 800's Final Run," 10-28-03, ANN], we mentioned that the reconstruction had taken "years." The next morning, we had a friendly note from Ted Lopatkiewicz, the NTSB's Director of Public Affairs:

"I'm not quite sure what you mean that the reconstruction of TWA800 'has taken years.' We completed the reconstruction early in 1997 and kept it up during our investigation. After issuance of our final report, we had it moved to a smaller hangar. It has been in containers for most of the last couple years, except those few pieces that are too large for them."

Well, we certainly don't want to say anything that's not true, so we asked Mr Lopatkiewicz to let us know the actual dates, as closely as he had them. It didn't take long to get an answer:

"OK, we'll all learn something here," he replied. "We had worked on reconstructing the center wing fuel tank during 1996. In fact, our major recommendation that telegraphed the eventual cause was issued in December 1996. However, the major reconstruction work occurred between February and April 1997. That is not to say that nothing was added after that. There may have been some small pieces that were added well after that completion date, basically wire bundles, etc."

[We aim to please; but more-importantly, we aim to get the story right. Thank you, Ted --ed.]

FMI: www.ntsb.gov