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Memorial marks 20th anniversary of TWA Flight 800 crash

Memorial marks 20th anniversary of TWA Flight 800 crash

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mourners toss roses into the Atlantic Ocean after the 20th anniversary memorial of the TWA Flight 800 plane crash at Smith Point County Park on Sunday, July 17, 2016, in Shirley, New York. Photo: AP

SHIRLEY: People killed in the crash of TWA Flight 800 have been memorialised at a service marking the 20th anniversary of the disaster. Family members of the 230 victims gathered with those who tried to rescue their loved ones on a Long Island beach on Sunday. After the ceremony, family members dropped roses and white carnations into the ocean. Some wiped tears as they rubbed their hands over names on a memorial wall. The midair explosion of Flight 800 moments after the flight left Kennedy Airport spawned a yearlong FBI probe and initially was thought to have been downed by a bomb or missile. The National Transportation Safety Board eventually concluded that the probable cause was faulty wiring sparking an explosion of overheated vapours in the plane's centre fuel tank.