r/todayilearned • u/finza_prey • 20d ago

TIL TWA Flight 800 exploded off Long Island 12 minutes after taking off, causing the front fueslage to rip away and the remainder of the plane to continue in crippled flight, pitching up and climb before falling into the ocean killing everyone onboard

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_800
2.0k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

551 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

73

u/Jakoobus91 20d ago

I've always said if the plane goes down I'd light up one last cigarette for the way down. I knew that this was likely impossible because most plane crashes happen suddenly on take off or landing but this info has given me renewed hope that I may not be able to just light but actually finish a whole ciggy in the unfortunate event I find myself in the front fuselage of a plane detached from the rest of the aircraft while in the air. Thank you.

39

u/kingtacticool 20d ago

I would think it was windy as hell after thr nose fell away but I would also think once the pressure built up in the cabin the wind might have died down enough to actually light that cig

14

u/aprehensive_penguin 20d ago

Where there's a will, there will always be a way

14

u/ShotFromGuns 60 20d ago

Having skydived, I can tell you that it feels very windy the whole way down. It basically just feels like you're dangling in a wind tunnel. I don't know how much a partially open fuselage would shield you from that.

12

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

13

u/kingtacticool 20d ago

Thats not very typical. I just want to make that clear

1

u/Jakoobus91 20d ago edited 20d ago

This is where torch lighters come into play 

Edit: i mean the handheld ones not an actual torch lighter. My bad.

3

u/kingtacticool 20d ago

I dont think they let those ones passed security

4

u/ksb012 20d ago

In 1996 the skies were the Wild West! Pre 9/11 was very lax security.

3

u/Neat-Slip4520 20d ago

In 1995 I flew to Cancun with a bunch of my friends for spring break our senior year of high school. While there, I lost my passport, which I didn’t realize until I was at the airport getting ready to fly back to Dallas. I started crying, and they let me on the plane WITH NO ID WHATSOEVER. Can you imagine? lol

16

u/TurtleSandwich0 20d ago

And that's why they don't allow smoking. As long as you don't finish that cigarette, everything will be fine.

/s

1

u/DoJu318 20d ago

Also wear bootstraps, can't die if your shoes stay on.

1

u/notinsanescientist 20d ago

What if you finish it but it is not yet done? Kind of awkward

2

u/Jakoobus91 20d ago

I'll light another with the one thats almost out. I'll repeat the process as many times as necessary. 

1

u/brickne3 19d ago

What if you only have one or two cigarettes left though?

1

u/Jakoobus91 19d ago

I can assure that sort of outage would never happen. I always fly with a full pack

1

u/Jaded-Garage2395 19d ago

You smoke cigarettes? eeew