"It's Amazing . . ."

The spokesman at New York's Kennedy Airport was incredulous that everyone on this gutted plane had survived. The fire aboard TWA Flight 843 erupted in the rear of the L-1011 jumbo jet as it was about to lift off for San Francisco with 292 aboard. The pilot aborted the takeoff, the plane crashed through a runway barrier and the crew chuted out the passengers with expert precision; 55 people suffered minor injuries. Other air travelers were not so lucky. A Thai jetliner carrying 113 people reportedly slammed into a Himalayan mountainside as it approached Katmandu, Nepal; all are feared dead. In Nanjing, China, at least 100 died in a takeoff crash.