On July 17, 1996, TWA Flight 800 exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Long island. After four exhaustive years, what was determined as the probable cause of the crash?

Trans World Airlines Flight 800, after leaving JFK on a flight to Rome, exploded and crashed into the sea 12 minutes after takeoff, south of Long Island on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31 p.m.

All 230 people on board were killed.

The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) investigators arrived on the scene the next morning, and there was initial speculation that it had been caused by a terrorist missile or a bomb on board.

The FBI immediately became involved, but 16 months later concluded that there was no criminal act, and closed their investigation.

Another theory is that a USCG vessel had fired a missile during a test, and that it had hit the plane.

After 4 years, the NTSB investigation concluded that the probable cause was actually an explosion of flammable fuel vapors in a fuel tank caused by a short circuit in the starboard wing, ending the most extensive, complex, and costly air disaster investigation in U.S. history.

The last recorded conversation from the cockpit by the Captain and pilot, just before the plane went down was: "Look at that crazy fuel flow indicator there on number four, see that?"