12 years later: What happens when a 747 is accidentally downed by a U.S. Navy missile

YOU end up with the tab for a billion dollar retrofit!

US unveils new rule on airplane fuel tanks
By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press Writer

ASHBURN, Va. - A device to prevent airplane fuel tanks from exploding must be installed on certain passenger jets and cargo planes, federal officials said Wednesday, 12 years after such an explosion destroyed TWA Flight 800, killing all 230 people aboard.

The new safety requirement, announced by Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, applies to new passenger and cargo planes that have center wing fuel tanks like TWA 800, a Boeing 747, which exploded over the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island on July 17, 1996, after takeoff from New York's Kennedy Airport.

The rule also requires airlines to retrofit 2,730 existing Airbus and Boeing passenger planes over the next nine years with center wing fuel tanks with the changes. The retrofit schedule is based on the normal aircraft maintenance schedule.

Manufacturers have two years in which to comply with the rule, although Boeing is already making some new planes with the changes.

"We believe this will save lives," said National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker, who joined Peters at a press conference at the safety board's training facility here, where TWA Flight 800 has been partially reconstructed from pieces of the aircraft retrieved from the ocean. "This is the big one for us as it relates to important solutions for fuel tank safety."

The change brings to a close a long and troubled chapter in federal aviation safety. The National Transportation Safety Board identified the cause of the explosion — the ignition of oxygen in a partially empty fuel tank that had been sitting for hours in the sun before takeoff — not long after the accident. But the FBI persisted for a time in investigating the accident as the result of a bomb (whatever, bomb, missile -- close enough for government work.)

The cost of installing the new technology would range from $92,000 to $311,000 per aircraft, depending upon its size, Peters said. She said the cost could be as little as one-tenth of 1 percent of the cost of a new aircraft.

FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell estimated the cost to industry overall at about $1 billion (passed to the customer in the form of higher airfares.)

news.yahoo.com...

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[edit on 16-7-2008 by GoldenFleece]

Wow, I can't believe this didn't receive a single response.

For all you 9/11 official story believers, this is a perfect example of dishonesty by the U.S. government in not being able to admit to a tragic mistake.
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It's basically been proven that they also shot down United Flight 93 over Shanksville, PA., then concocted the passenger "heroes" story.

Dishonesty yes, they don't want it to seem as they killed those people. But no one is responding is because this proved 911 is not a inside job because why would the gov want to shoot down a plane when they can crash it into their own own buildings. Just another 911 conspiracy flawed in theory.