Trans World Airlines   Boeing 747-131    N93107          (c/n   19673)

                                    

                                          TWA began operations with the mighty 747 in 1970.  They were used on both their overseas
                                          routes, and also on domestic transcontinental services.   The airline owned/operated approx-
                                          imately 25 of the series 100 machines, but later acquired 7 "previously owned" series 200s.
                                          This typical -131 "heavy" was captured at New York's JFK International Airport in February
                                          of 1997 by Michael McLaughlin.  

                                        Note:                            
                                         On 17 July 1996, about 8.45 p.m. N93119 operating TWA Flight 800, exploded over the Atlantic
                                         Ocean near Long Island shortly after take-off from JFK Airport killing all 230 souls aboard.  The
                                         aircraft was on a regularly scheduled flight to Paris, France. Initial reports indicate that witnesses
                                         saw an explosion and then debris descending to the ocean.  There were no reports of the flight crew
                                         reporting a problem to air traffic control.  The NTSB concluded that the most likely cause of the
                                         disaster was a center fuel tank explosion sparked by exposed wiring.   The media at the time
                                         focused heavily on the fact that TWA's airline fleet was among the oldest in service.   The crash did
                                         little to foster consumer confidence in the, by then, beleaguered airline.  By 1998 it had reorganized
                                         primarily as a domestic carrier.