15. TWA Flight 800
TWA Flight 800, which left JFK Airport in New York bound for Rome in 1996, became the third deadliest airline crash in US aviation history when it exploded 12 minutes after takeoff, killing all 230 people on board. The explosion could be witnessed from New York City, with one bystander describing it as a 30-foot-high wall of flame and another stating it looked like the ocean was on fire.
While it was initially feared that the explosion was a result of a terroristic attack, a four-year-long investigation found no signs of terrorist activity. Rather, they found readings that indicated a short circuit in a fuel tank had caused the horrible explosion. After these findings were presented to the public, new regulations were put in place to improve the engineering and safety of fuel tanks.
The crash remains a favorite item of discussion among conspiracy theorists, many of whom blame the US Government for the plane’s demise. The explosion occurred in the same year as a contentious presidential election and the bombing of the Oklahoma Federal Building by domestic terrorists. Conspiracists believe a naval ship erroneously fired on the plane, thinking it was a terrorist attack, and covered it up with short-circuit findings.