1.0 IntroductionOn July 17, 1996, Trans World Airlines Flight 800, a Boeing 747-100, exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near New York 12 minutes after his departure. All 230 people on board died. 1.1 Accident Timeline Although the flight was scheduled to depart JFK Airport around 7pm, it was delayed due to a faulty piece of ground equipment and concerns over a suspected mismatch between the passenger and their baggage. The plane took off at 8:18 p.m., shortly after at 8:25 p.m., the Boston Air Routes Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) ordered the pilots to climb and maintain an altitude of 19,000 feet and then lower to 15,000 feet. However, at 8:26 p.m., Boston's ARTCC changed the altitude clearance for TWA Flight 800, advising pilots to maintain an altitude of 13,000 feet. At 8:29 p.m., the captain said, “Look at that crazy fuel flow indicator there on number four…do you see it?” A minute later the Boston ARTCC advised them to climb and maintain 15,000 feet to which the pilot responded, “Climb Thrust.” After an extremely loud and fast sound, the cockpit voice recorder stopped recording at 8:31 pm. At that moment, the crew of an Eastwind Airlines Boeing 737 flying nearby reported an explosion in the sky. The aircraft of TWA Flight 800 had broken up and crashed into the sea, 8 miles south of East Moriches, killing all on board. (1,2)2.0 Accident InvestigationThe long investigation by the Safety Board revealed the possibility of short-circuiting cable systems as an ignition source within the fuel tank, which would provide the minimum required ignition energy according to the parameters established by the American Petroleum Institute (API), as well as analysis of conditions within the CWT at the time of the accident. Tests in...... half of the paper ...... red conducted by Lectromec have shown that contaminants, such as water, waste fluids and metal shavings, can create a bridge that can allow for inadvertent energy transfer between wires with cracked or damaged insulation for up to 25 minutes without tripping circuit breakers. Specifically, the totalizer meter wires on TWA Flight 800 had been improperly soldered together and subsequently snapped, providing another opportunity for an explosive short. During examination of the meter at Honeywell, it was determined that electrical energy passed through the gap in the solder between the connector pins when a voltage slightly higher than 270 volts (less than that used in lighting circuits) was applied to one of the pins ). Therefore, a short from a high voltage wire to any corrugated FQIS wiring could result in excess energy being transferred to the CWT.