Engineering Disaster of TWA Flight 800

o question whether more should be done to identify, track and correct such problems in aircraft systems.As pointed out in the NTSB hearing, the failures of electrical components could include the following (NTSB hearing summary 1997):A possible short circuit to the fuel quantity indication system (FQIS) wiring, outside the fuel tank, combined with latent failures not apparent during operation of the plane, or copper sulfide deposits on FQIS components in the fuel tank.Energy induced into the FQIS combined with latent failures, foreign materials or copper sulfide deposits in the fuel tank.Damage to wiring above the forward cargo compartment. In the flight of a different aircraft, unrelated to the accident investigation has found that a cargo container may have struck the wiring in this area and created a short circuit. In wreckage recovered from the accident aircraft, a portion of that wring is missing.Possible short-circuit in other parts of FQIS wiring, some of which has not been recovered from flight 800. Short circuits in the power cable that could have ignited the fuel vapors in the partially filled center fuel tank.4.0 SOLUTIONSAs stated in the NTSB summary, before an explosion can occur, three elements are needed, these include:FuelOxygenIgnition Source.To prevent any explosion from occurring, one of these elements, as stated above, must be removed. The following solution, that include nitrogen inerting, foam installation, jet fuel alternative and vented air gaps, take this into account. 4.1 NITROGEN INERTINGWithout oxygen in the fuel-air mixture, the fuel tank ullage could not ignite, regardless of temperature of ignition considerations. The military (Daschle, 1996, p4) has prevented fuel tank ignition in some aircraft through the creation of a nitrogen-enriched atmosphere (nitrogen-inerting) in fuel tank ullage, thereby creating an oxygen-deficient fuel air mi...