TWA Flight 800 (1964)
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For the 1996 crash of a TWA Boeing 747 off the coast of New York, see TWA Flight 800.
| Occurrence summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 23 November 1964 |
| Type | Engine failure |
| Site | Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, Rome, Italy |
| Passengers | 62 |
| Crew | 11 |
| Injuries | 23 |
| Fatalities | 50 |
| Survivors | 23 |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 707-300 |
| Operator | Trans World Airlines |
| Tail number | N769TW |
| Flight origin | Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, Rome, Italy  |
| Destination | Ellinikon International Airport, Athens, Greece  |
TWA Flight 800 was a Boeing 707 that crashed during take off on runway 25 at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, Rome at 13:05 GMT on a flight to Athens International Airport, Greece on 23 November 1964. As the Boeing 707 was at 80 knots, the instruments for No. 4 engine indicated zero thrust and the thrust reverser deployment light for No. 2 engine illuminated. The crew aborted the takeoff at a speed below V1 at 800-900m down the runway. The aircraft did not slow down as quickly as the crew expected and veered to the right, whereupon No. 4 engine struck a pavement roller. The aircraft caught fire and travelled another 260m before coming to rest. The accident killed 50 passengers and crew on board, with 23 passengers and crew surviving.
[edit] Cause
The cause of the accident was an inoperative No. 2 engine reverse thrust system, even though indications in the cockpit were that the reverser had deployed. This was caused by the disconnection of a duct with resulting lack of pressure in the pneumatic clamshell door actuating mechanism. This malfunction allowed the development of considerable forward thrust by No. 2 engine even though the thrust levers for all four engines were in the "reverse" position.