Air safety call
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A formal public hearing into the crash of TWA flight 800 opened yesterday in Baltimore with a call for new safety standards to ensure that flammable vapours are cleared from aircraft fuel tanks.
The call came from Jim Hall, chairman of the US transport safety watchdog, the National Transportation Safety Board, who argued that clearing potentially dangerous vapours was even more important than determining precisely what sparked the explosion that is believed to have caused the disaster.
The Paris-bound plane, a Boeing 747, exploded 12 minutes after take-off from Kennedy Airport, New York, in the evening of 17 July 1996. All 230 people on board died. Although most of the wreckage has been recovered, the exact cause of the crash has still not been established, although sabotage has been ruled out.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments