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Departure To Disaster: Timeline of Flight 800

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Jul 17, 2006 3:23 am US/Eastern

Departure To Disaster: Timeline of Flight 800

NEW YORK (CBS) ― When TWA Flight 800 took off from JFK International Airport on July 17, 1996, no one imagined its unthinkable fate. Here is a timeline of what happened from take-off to the first anniversary of the accident.

July 17, 1996
8:15 p.m. TWA Flight 800 departs JFK bound for Paris.
8:31:12 p.m.: Center fuel tank explodes at 13,700 feet.
8:31:15 p.m.: Plane banks to the left. The front section of the plane breaks off and falls, while the fuselage section continues upward to the left.
8:31:25 p.m.: Fuselage rolls to the right and begins to plummet toward the water.
8:31:53 p.m.: Fireball erupts as the left wing breaks away.
8:32 p.m.: Plane drops from radar.

July 18, 1996
Divers arrive for underwater salvage effort.

July 21, 1996
Memorial services held in New York, Los Angeles and Montoursville, Pennsylvania.

July 22, 1996
Private memorial service held on Fire Island.

July 25, 1996
'Black boxes' recovered from crash site.

August 21, 1996
Explosion in center fuel tank confirmed.

October 21, 1996
First lawsuits filed against TWA and Boeing.

November 2, 1996
Scuba units take final dive to recover victims, wreckage.

January 3, 1997
First autopsy report released.

March 12, 1997
Former ABC correspondent Pierre Salinger releases report claiming plane struck by missile.

April 7, 1997
TWA sends letters to victims' families offering to discuss settlement of claims.

May 12, 1997
Reconstruction of TWA wreckage completed.

June 7, 1997
FBI tells victims' families there is "no evidence of bomb or missile."

July 17, 1997
One-year anniversary of the crash.

(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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