twa 800 Why & could it happen again?
i was watching a documentary on the twa 800 tragedy in 1996 on sat on ch.4. .. .the reasons given for the accident was the fact that the centre tank was quite low on fuel , which heated up and evapourated due to long wait on stand. this was due to a/cond. units keeping the a/c cool.. .. .this caused the fuel to evapourate. this normally would not be a problem as jetA is quite difficult to burn.. .. .but on takeoff as air density decreases the air was sucked from the tanks causing concentration to increase further.. .. .on the cvr the capt. pointed out crazy fuel flow to engines. apparently the ignition or spark started from the wiring responsible for that indicator.. .. .the program maker interviewed one of the boeing directors and he said that this is a rare event and they have taken further precautions to prevent this from happening again.. .. .my question is, fare enough wires can be checked and insulated further to prevent a spark, but how about the air conditioning units heating up and the heat being disappated in the half full centre fuel tank and scenario starting again. . .. .does that mean that the centre fuel tank should always be filled first and what happens if an a/c is on standby for long periods in hot weather?. .. .how can this situation be prevented and why is it not more common?( if the above reason are true).. .. .PH. .. .PS sorry if i have any misunderstood any facts. . . . <small>[ 03 March 2002, 23:53: Message edited by: purple haze ]</small>