The ambient air temperature was probably much more than the 82� F high reported for the day. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in July. The TWA jet had been sitting on the hot tarmac at New York’s John F. Outside air temperatures in both the Thai and PAL cases were in the high 90s (degrees Fahrenheit). On the TWA jet, packs had been running for about two and a half hours before the doomed airplane took off. They were running for about the same amount of time on the ground before the PAL jet exploded. On the Thai jet, the packs had been running throughout the previous flight, and then for about 40 minutes while the jet was on the ground. The air-conditioning packs generate heat, which contributes to fuel vaporization in the non-insulated tanks. And the outside air temperatures were quite warm. The air-conditioning packs, located in non-vented bays directly under the CWT, had been running before the explosions. These three fatal fuel-tank explosions have certain elements in common: All three airplanes had only a small amount of fuel in the wing tank. In 1990, the CWT exploded on a Philippine Airlines (PAL) B737 at Manila, and in 1996 the CWT exploded on a Trans World Airlines (TWA) B747 shortly after takeoff from New York (see sidebar). It was the third center wing tank explosion in the past 11 years.
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