Long Island Marks 30 Years Since TWA Flight 800 Disaster

Thirty years after TWA Flight 800 exploded and fell into the Atlantic Ocean off the Suffolk County coast, families of those killed gathered Friday evening at Smith Point County Park for a memorial service marking the anniversary of one of the deadliest aviation disasters in American history.

The Paris-bound Boeing 747 departed John F. Kennedy International Airport on the night of July 17, 1996, and exploded roughly 11 miles off Smith Point Beach about 12 minutes into its flight. All 230 people aboard perished, including 14 Long Island residents. Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board later determined that faulty wiring ignited vapors in a center fuel tank, ruling out theories that a missile had brought down the plane.

A public service was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the park's memorial, where a black granite structure bears the names of every victim. Suffolk officials and the Families of TWA 800 Association organized the ceremony.

John Seaman, chairman of the TWA Flight 800 Family Association and uncle of victim Michele Becker, said returning to Smith Point each year brings the night of July 17, 1996, rushing back.

"When I return to the memorial, and I meet some of the families from around the world and the country, everything comes back. Everything comes back vividly," Seaman said.

Becker was a 19-year-old student traveling to France for a wedding when she died alongside 229 others from 14 countries.

Ian Bailey, who traveled from Sacramento, California, to attend the memorial — his sister and brother-in-law were among those killed — said he had not visited the site in nearly three decades.

"The memorial for me is very comforting and healing and it is for most of the families," Seaman said. "Being here brings it all back, and I can see things that happened 30 years ago, and it's just as vivid as if it was yesterday."

Seaman later founded the Families of Flight 800 Inc. to keep survivors connected and to steward the memorial, which he said is open to anyone seeking solace.