NTSB Identification: DCA96MA070
Scheduled 14 CFR 121 operation of TRANSWORLD AIRWAYS (D.B.A. TWA)
Accident occurred JUL-17-96 at EAST MORICHES, NY
Aircraft: Boeing 747, registration: N93119
Injuries: 230 Fatal.
On July 17, 1996, about 8:45pm, TWA flight 800, N93119, a Boeing
747-100, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Long Island
shortly after takeoff from Kennedy International Airport. The airplane
was on a regularly scheduled flight to Paris, France. The initial
reports are that witnesses saw an explosion and then debris descending
to the ocean. There are no reports of the flight crew reporting a
problem to air traffic control. The airplane was manufactured in
November 1971. It has accumulated about 93,303 flight hours and 16,869
cycles. On board the airplane were 212 passengers and 18 crew members.
The airplane was destroyed and there were no survivors.
Index for Jul 1996 | Index of Months
FROM HTTP://advlearn.lrdc.pitt.edu/belvedere/materials/TWA/NSTBacct.htm
The Crash of TWA 800: National Transportation Safety Board Report
NTSB Identification: DCA96MA070
Scheduled 14 CFR 121 operation of TRANSWORLD AIRWAYS (D.B.A. TWA)
Accident occurred JUL-17-96 at EAST MORICHES, NY
Aircraft: Boeing 747, registration: N93119
Injuries: 230 Fatal.
_________________________________________________________________
On July 17, 1996, about 8:45pm, TWA flight 800, N93119, a Boeing
747-100, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Long Island
shortly after takeoff from Kennedy International Airport. The airplane
was on a regularly scheduled flight to Paris, France.
The initial reports are that witnesses saw an explosion and then
debris descending to the ocean. There are no reports of the flight crew
reporting a problem to air traffic control.
The airplane was manufactured in November 1971. It has accumulated
about 93,303 flight hours and 16,869 cycles.
On board the airplane were 212 passengers and 18 crew members. The
airplane was destroyed and there were no survivors.
[ISMAP]
Lawyer Lee Kreindler filed this Oct. 21, 1996 suit against TWA,
seeking damages resulting from the July 17th explosion of Flight 800,
a Paris-bound jetliner. The suit alleges that a "limited explosion of
the center fuel cell of the aircraft followed by a chain reaction
structural failure and fire caus[ed] the plane to break up in midair."
Kreindler, who specializes in aviation cases, won $500 million for
victims' families after the 1988 Pan Am jet exploded over Lockerbie,
Scotland.
_________________________________________________________________
FROM COURT TV AT HTTP://www.courttv.com/library/business/twa800.html
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
-------------------------------------x
ERIC C. JOHNSON, individually and as
personal representative and Executor
of the Estate of LEONARD JAMES
JOHNSON, deceased,
Plaintiff,
-against-
TRANS WORLD AIRLINES, INC., and
THE BOEING COMPANY,
Defendants.
-------------------------------------x
Civil No.:
COMPLAINT
PLAINTIFF DEMANDS A TRIAL BY JURY
Plaintiff Eric C. Johnson, by his attorneys Kreindler & Kreindler,
respectfully alleges:
GENERAL ALLEGATIONS
Jurisdiction is based on diversity of citizenship, 28 U.S.C. Sec.
1332, in that: the passenger decedent Leonard James Johnson was a
citizen of Virginia; the plaintiff Eric C. Johnson was and is a
citizen of Virginia; the defendant Trans World Airlines, Inc. ("TWA")
is incorporated in Delaware and has its principal place of business in
Missouri; the defendant The Boeing Company ("Boeing") is incorporated
in Delaware and has its principal place of business in Washington; and
the amount in controversy exceeds the sum of $50,000, exclusive of
interest and costs.
The plaintiff Eric C. Johnson is the son of the decedent Leonard James
Johnson, and was appointed personal representative and Executor of the
Estate of Leonard James Johnson by the Circuit Court of Fairfax County
in the Commonwealth of Virginia and he brings this lawsuit in said
capacity on behalf of said Estate and the surviving family members of
Leonard James Johnson.
On and prior to July 17, 1996, defendant TWA was a major international
airline which operated regularly scheduled passenger flights and
performed aircraft maintenance at John F. Kennedy International
Airport in Queens, New York.
On July 17, 1996, defendant TWA operated a Boeing 747-100 aircraft,
registration N93119, serial number 20083 (hereinafter the "subject
Boeing 747"), as TWA flight 800 from Kennedy International Airport in
Queens, New York to Paris, France and Rome, Italy (hereinafter "TWA
flight 800").
Defendant Boeing manufactured, designed, assembled, inspected, tested,
distributed, sold, serviced, maintained and repaired the subject
Boeing 747 and wrote and/or approved instructions and warnings for the
subject Boeing 747, including its flight manual, maintenance manual,
maintenance instructions, service bulletins, inspection schedules and
service life schedules.
Defendant TWA owned, serviced, maintained and repaired the subject
Boeing 747 and, with the assistance of defendant Boeing, wrote and/or
approved instructions and warnings for the subject Boeing 747,
including its flight manual, maintenance manual, maintenance
instructions, service bulletins, inspection schedules and service life
schedules.
The subject Boeing 747 was first sold by defendant Boeing to defendant
TWA in 1971.
In the mid-1970's the subject Boeing 747 was sold by defendant TWA to
the Government of Iran and was later sold back to defendant TWA.
The subject Boeing 747 was originally designed and tested by defendant
Boeing to have a service life of 60,000 hours.
As of July 17, 1996, the subject Boeing 747 had been operated for
approximately 101,000 hours.
As of July 17, 1996, the subject Boeing 747 was beyond its useful
service life and should have been retired and in any event should not
have been used to carry passengers.
On July 17, 1996, Leonard James Johnson was a fare paying passenger
aboard TWA flight 800.
On July 17, 1996, at approximately 8:45 p.m., about eleven minutes
after TWA flight 800 took off from Kennedy Airport, a mechanical,
structural and/or electrical failure occurred aboard the subject
Boeing 747, causing a limited explosion of the center fuel cell of the
aircraft, followed by chain reaction structural failures and fires,
causing the plane to break up in mid-air.
The center fuel cell explosion caused burning fuel vapors to travel
through the vent lines of the right wing and out of the right wing
tip; the burning vapors then began to extinguish and receded back
toward the aircraft fuselage; as a result, ground eyewitnesses saw a
streak of light heading toward the aircraft which was in some accounts
mistaken for a missile.
The subject Boeing 747 broke apart in mid-air over the New York State
waters of the Atlantic Ocean south of Long Island, New York, and
subsequently crashed in the New York State waters of the Atlantic
Ocean.
As a result of the foregoing, Leonard James Johnson was forced to
endure severe mental anguish, fear of impending death, and ultimately
suffered severe physical injuries which caused his death.
As a result of the foregoing, the plaintiff Eric C. Johnson, the
decedent's daughter Christina L. Johnson, the decedent's siblings, and
the Estate of Leonard James Johnson are entitled to recover
compensatory damages under the law of Virginia, including losses of
support, services, protection, care, assistance, parental care,
guidance and education, solace, companionship, society, comfort,
guidance, kindly offices, advice and consortium together with the
survivors' sorrow, grief and mental anguish, the decedent's mental and
physical pain and suffering, and funeral and burial expenses and other
damages.
A FIRST CLAIM FOR WRONGFUL DEATH AND SURVIVAL DAMAGES AGAINST TWA
Plaintiff restates the allegations of paragraphs 1 through 17 above.
Defendant TWA is liable to pay full, fair and reasonable wrongful
death and survival damages to the plaintiff for the death of Leonard
James Johnson under the Warsaw Convention treaty, together with the
Montreal Agreement, which defendant TWA signed in 1966, and the
International Air Transport Association Intercarrier Agreement on
Passenger Liability, which defendant TWA signed in 1996.
Defendant TWA did not take all necessary measures to avoid the subject
disaster and the death of Leonard James Johnson.
As a result of the foregoing, defendant TWA is liable to the plaintiff
for compensatory damages in the sum of $25,000,000.
A SECOND CLAIM FOR WRONGFUL DEATH, SURVIVAL AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES
AGAINST TWA
Plaintiff restates the allegations of paragraphs 1 through 17 above.
Said failure, explosion, crash, injuries and death were caused by the
wilful misconduct of the defendant TWA, including its officers, agents
and employees, in continuing to fly the subject Boeing 747 beyond its
service life, in failing to restore the subject Boeing 747 to
airworthy condition after its sale to and purchase from Iran, and in
failing to properly maintain and service the subject Boeing 747,
thereby subjecting the passengers to the catastrophic risk of a
mechanical, structural and/or electrical failure and mid-air break up
of the aircraft.
As a result of the foregoing, defendant TWA is liable to the plaintiff
for compensatory and punitive damages in the sum of $50,000,000.
A THIRD CLAIM FOR WRONGFUL DEATH AND SURVIVAL DAMAGES AGAINST BOEING
BASED ON NEGLIGENCE
Plaintiff restates the allegations of paragraphs 1 through 17 above.
Said failure, explosion, crash, injuries and death were caused by the
negligence of defendant Boeing, including its officers, agents and
employees, in that it carelessly manufactured, designed, assembled,
inspected, tested, distributed, sold, serviced, maintained and
repaired the subject Boeing 747 and carelessly failed to warn of the
catastrophic dangers of a mechanical, structural and/or electrical
failure through the instructions and warnings for the subject Boeing
747, including its flight manual, maintenance manual, maintenance
instructions, service bulletins, inspection schedules and service life
schedules.
As a result of the foregoing, defendant Boeing is liable to the
plaintiff for compensatory damages in the sum of $25,000,000.
A FOURTH CLAIM FOR WRONGFUL DEATH AND SURVIVAL DAMAGES AGAINST BOEING
BASED ON STRICT PRODUCTS LIABILITY
Plaintiff restates the allegations of paragraphs 1 through 17 above.
On July 17, 1996, the subject Boeing 747, including its instructions
and warnings, was being operated and used for the purposes and in the
manner for which it was designed, manufactured, assembled, inspected,
tested, sold and intended to be used, in a manner reasonably
foreseeable to defendant Boeing, and in a condition without
substantial change from its original condition when sold by defendant
Boeing.
On July 17, 1996, the subject Boeing 747, including its instructions
and warnings, was defective and unreasonably dangerous and unsafe by
reason of defendant Boeing's defective design, manufacture, assembly,
inspection, testing, warnings and instructions, sale, service, repair
and maintenance of the subject Boeing 747.
Said failure, explosion, crash, injuries and death were caused by the
aforementioned defective, unreasonably dangerous and unsafe condition
of the subject Boeing 747, including its instructions and warnings.
As a result of the foregoing, Boeing is liable to the plaintiff for
compensatory damages in the sum of $25,000,000.
A FIFTH CLAIM FOR WRONGFUL DEATH AND SURVIVAL DAMAGES AGAINST BOEING
BASED ON BREACH OF WARRANTY
Plaintiff restates the allegations of paragraphs 1 through 17 above.
Prior to July 17, 1996, defendant Boeing expressly and/or implicitly
warranted and represented that the subject 747 aircraft, including its
instructions and warnings, was airworthy, of merchantable quality, fit
and safe for the purpose for which it was designed, manufactured,
assembled, inspected, tested, sold, serviced, repaired, maintained,
intended and used, and Boeing further warranted that the subject 747
aircraft was free from all defects.
Defendant Boeing breached said warranties in that the subject aircraft
was not airworthy, of merchantable quality, or fit and safe for the
purposes for which it was designed, manufactured, assembled,
inspected, tested, sold, serviced, repaired, maintained, intended and
used, and further was not free from all defects.
Said failure, explosion, crash, injuries and death were caused by the
aforementioned breach of warranties by defendant Boeing.
As a result of the foregoing, defendant Boeing is liable to the
plaintiff for compensatory damages in the sum of $25,000,000.
A SIXTH CLAIM FOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES AGAINST BOEING
Plaintiff restates the allegations of paragraphs 1 through 17, 26, 27,
29 through 32 and 34 through 37 above.
Said failure, explosion, crash, injuries and death were caused by the
wanton and wilful misconduct of the defendant Boeing, including its
officers, agents and employees, in failing to warn of the catastrophic
risk of mechanical, structural and/or electrical failure, including
the potential for explosion of the center fuel tank and resulting
consequences, in approving defendant TWA to fly the subject Boeing 747
beyond its service life and by subjecting passengers to the risk of
mechanical, structural and/or electrical failure and mid-air break up
of the aircraft.
As a result of the foregoing, Boeing is liable to the plaintiff for
punitive damages in the sum of $25,000,000.
A SEVENTH CLAIM IN THE ALTERNATIVE AGAINST TWA FOR WRONGFUL DEATH,
SURVIVAL AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES
Plaintiff restates the allegations of paragraphs 1 through 17 above.
In the event that it is determined that a bomb caused the subject
disaster, plaintiff alleges in the alternative that said explosion,
crash, injuries and death were caused by the wilful misconduct of
defendant TWA through its deliberate, intentional and reckless
disregard for the safety of its passengers in failing to take
necessary and required security measures to prevent the bomb from
being carried aboard the aircraft.
As a result of the foregoing, TWA is liable to the plaintiff for
compensatory and punitive damages in the sum of $50,000,000.
WHEREFORE, plaintiff is entitled to a judgment against the defendant
TWA for compensatory and punitive damages in the total sum of
$50,000,000, and plaintiff is entitled to a judgment against the
defendant Boeing for compensatory and punitive damages in the total
sum of $50,000,000, together with interest, costs and other damages
that the Court may deem just under the circumstances.
Respectfully submitted,
KREINDLER & KREINDLER
By: __________________________
Lee S. Kreindler (LK 4362)
Steven R. Pounian (SP 5795)
James P. Kreindler (JK 7084)
100 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10017
(212) 687-8181
Attorneys for Plaintiff
_________________________________________________________________
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