In this tragic occurrence, the Boeing 747, en route from New York to Paris, blew up in flight off Long Island, New York on July 17, 1996. An intensive investigation by the US FBI found no evidence of a bomb or missile strike, as initially feared. A comprehensive independent investigation and legal discovery conducted by Floyd Wisner and other members of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee instead found that the aircraft had exploded when the volatile air-fuel mixture in the aircraft’s nearly empty center wing fuel tank was ignited. The lawsuits led to orders for the inspection and replacement of aircraft wiring and to revisions in fuel tank design to eliminate ignition sources and to prevent the build-up of the volatile fuel-air mixture in the first instance.