Volee 180 how it should have crashed
After taking time and using my knowledge of aviation and how air crashes work, I took the time to remove all the Hollywood film tropes and make the crash of Volee 180 much more realistic without ruining the basic nature of the crash itself, here’s the timeline I came up with
Volee 180 what should have happened
May 13th 1999
A Boeing 747-230B owned by Volee airlines is preparing to pushback at Gate B46 of the international arrivals building at Kennedy airport
Boarding today’s flight is a high school French class as well as a newly hired chef apprentice and his girlfriend
At 2120 EST one of the passengers by the name of Alex Browning has a panic, stating he saw a vision of the aircraft about to explode, The relief Flight engineer and the flight attendants escort Alex and 2 members of his class off after a confrontation, a teacher, one of the student’s girlfriend and a student who happened to be watching also get off, At the gate a student who arrived at gate closing is also prevented from boarding after having trouble in the bathroom Leaving the total of 7 at the gate and 287 passengers and crew on board
At 2125 despite the incident Volee 180 pushes back from gate B46 on time and is cleared to taxi to Runway 22R
Following the explosion of TWA 800 Boeing 747’s are equipped with an inert nitrogen gas system in their main Center wing fuel tank however this aircraft was not yet equipped with the system following a sale of the aircraft from Lufthansa to Volee Airlines, in fact it was expected to be taken out of service for the required refit after this particular flight. Among other things due to the hot and stormy May Day, the aircraft conditioning units like on TWA-800 were on high slowly heating up the partially empty Center wing fuel tank causing fuel vapours to form
At 2132 Volee 180 is cleared for takeoff on runway 22R where it was cleared to fly over Far Rockaway and Long beach and eventually enter the North Atlantic track system for its flight to Paris
At 2135 Volee 180 is buffeted by turbulence caused by moderate Low Level Wind sheer from the storm passing by the airport, Inside the aircraft a Small fuel leak is formed by a improperly secured Valve gasket, This fuel which is now in an atomised state as it leaks from the fuel line, eventually catches fire unknown to the passengers
At 2136 a fire takes hold inside the machinery space in between the CWT and the cabin floor, Catching fire from a short circuit on an exposed wire on the Scavenger pump system
At 2140 Volee 180 has passed 6,000 feet when disaster strikes, The fire manages to burn through not just the cabin floor but into the already overheated CWT, causing the fuel vapours formed to ignite and explode catastrophically, As what remains of Volee 180 begins to disintegrate over Long beach, the nose gear strut crashes into a bar killing a patron on the ground