The 747-100 began commercial operation in 1970. Since then, 250 have been delivered.
The 747 is considered a reliable aircraft, with a rate of 1.6 fatal accidents per million departures. The rate for all commercial jetliners is 1.83.
In the days following the crash, nearly 30 vessels sweep through preestablished search grids in rows of three, about a quarter mile apart, looking between the boats for bodies and debris. Above, planes and helicopters scour the area.
More than 20 NYPD divers and U.S. Navy personnel with high-tech equipment comb the ocean’s floor for wreckage and survivors. Only 1% of the wreckage had been recovered by Friday afternoon.
- Approx. 4:00 p.m.
TWA 747 arrives in New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport from Athens, Greece.
After a delay of more than an hour, Flight 800 takes off from JFK bound for Paris.
Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center, responsible for some New York airspace above 11,000 feet, begins monitoring the progress of Flight 800.
747 reaches an altitude of 13,700 feet about 50 miles away from JFK and disappears from radar.
Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center calls Boston Coast Guard Command Center and reports, “We’ve confirmed there’s a fireball and it’s exploded. We need everything you’ve got.”
Within 10 minutes, nine cutters, four helicpoters and one Falcon jet are on their way to the scene. Coast Guard cutter Adak, an 82-foot patrol boat, is the first at the scene.
