SUMMARY OF HEARING: Monday, December 8, 1997

At the NTSB’s public hearing in the investigation of the accident that destroyed TWA 800, the first day was devoted to a description of the accident itself. From that description came evidence about what led to the destruction of the aircraft and what was not involved. NTSB investigators and expert witnesses agreed that the catastrophe began with an explosion originating in the Boeing 747’s center fuel tank. They also, uniformly, found no evidence that this explosion was triggered by an explosive device such as a bomb or missile.

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An airplane accident is not a single event, but a series of events. One of the first tasks for the accident investigation team is to identify the nature and sequence of those events. For the destruction of TWA 800, this effort involved defining the motion of the aircraft before, during and after the explosion. Much of the story came from the wreckage itself, since the sequence of events is revealed by the appearance and location of that wreckage. Additional data came from data recorded at the time of the accident – information recorded at radar sites and on the aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder. Evidence was also derived from the remains of the victims. The hearing included presentations and witness testimony devoted to each of these three data sources.

From the data, presented in summary at the hearing, a consistent picture emerged of the last moments of TWA Flight 800: An explosion in the center fuel tank massively compromised the aircraft’s internal structure. The forward portion of the fuselage tore loose and fell. The remainder of the aircraft maintained lift, and for a short time actually gained altitude, before eventually impacting with the ocean.

The day’s presentations began with a description of the massive underwater operation that recovered more than 95 percent of the aircraft structure, as well as the remains of all 230 victims.