TWA Flight 891
Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-1649A Starliner · Lightning strike
From Dongyang Hengdian General Airport (HEW) to O%27Hare International Airport
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 68 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 68
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Lockheed L-1649A Starliner
- Aircraft type
- Lockheed L-1649
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N7313C
- Operator
- Trans World Airlines
- Onboard fatalities
- 68
- Route
- From Dongyang Hengdian General Airport (HEW)To O%27Hare International Airport
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
TWA Flight 891 was a Lockheed L-1649A Starliner that crashed not long after taking off from Milan Malpensa Airport on 26 June 1959. All 68 passengers and crew on board were killed.
Flight
On 26 June 1959, TWA Flight 891 departed Malpensa Airport in Milan, Italy, with a crew of 9 and 59 passengers on board. Sixteen passengers were from Italy, four passengers and three crew members were from France, four came from the United Kingdom, two came from Chile, one each came from West Germany, Egypt and Israel with the remaining 30 passengers and 6 crew members being American. The flight had originated in Athens, Greece, and had stopped in Rome before flying on to Milan. The subsequent leg of the flight destination was to Paris' Orly Airport. When Flight 891 departed Milan, light rain was falling with a low overcast and a ceiling of around 2,000 feet, with visibility of approximately two miles (3.2 km). There were also thunderstorms in the area.
Twelve minutes after takeoff, the flight crew reported the aircraft was climbing through 10,000 feet. A few minutes after that, the Starliner suffered structural failure and broke up in mid-air. Everyone on board was killed.
Flight 891 was the first fatal aviation accident involving a Lockheed Starliner. In terms of loss of life, it was also the worst air crash of 1959.
Investigation and cause
Cause
On 24 November 1960, an Italian inquiry board announced its finding that a lightning strike had brought down Flight 891. "The breaking-up in flight was due to the explosion of the fuel vapors contained in tank number 7, followed immediately by either an explosion of pressure or a further explosion in tank #6. In the absence of other significant concrete evidence, taking into account the stormy weather conditions, with frequent electric discharges, existing in the area at the time of the crash, it may be assumed that the explosion of the fuel vapors contained in tank #7 was set off, through the outlet pipes, by igniting of the gasoline vapors issuing from these pipes as a consequence of static electricity discharges (streamer corona) which developed on the vent outlets."
Text from the Wikipedia article “TWA Flight 891” (revision 1373543848, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: TWA Flight 891
- Article
- TWA Flight 891
- Revision
- 1373543848 · 2026-09-06 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q3709238
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "TWA Flight 891" (page 36508896, revision 1373543848)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- flight number in the article title
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.