On the 11th Anniversary of TWA Flight 800, Phyre Technologies Inc. Offers Safer Technology for Passenger Planes

SAN DIEGO, July 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Eleven years after the in-flight breakup of Trans World Airlines Flight 800 over the Atlantic Ocean, San Diego- based technology development company Phyre Technologies Inc. has successfully tested a system designed to prevent fuel tank explosions such as that on TWA Flight 800.

Called the GOBIGGS(TM), this cutting-edge green technology is the result of several years' development in the anticipation of the pending FAA ruling which will require improved fuel tank safety systems on commercial passenger aircraft.

Since 1960, there have been 17 worldwide airplane fuel tank explosions. Of these 17 explosions, three involved a heated center wing fuel tank for which no ignition source could be determined: Philippine Airlines (5/11/90), TWA Flight 800 (7/17/96), and Thai Airways International (3/3/01).

Prior to the TWA 800 accident, most aviation experts believed that minimizing ignition sources was the best way to avoid a fuel tank explosion. However, these three mysterious accidents altered this assumption. The FAA, airlines, manufacturers, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) now believe that the solution to avoiding airplane fuel tank explosions is twofold: eliminate ignition sources and reduce the flammability of the tank.

With the GOBIGGS(TM), Phyre Technologies Inc. has developed the first environmentally friendly on-board fuel tank inerting system for large passenger jets. This closed-loop system reduces tank flammability by replacing the oxygen in the fuel tank with an inert gas, such as nitrogen. This prevents the potential ignition of fuel vapor such as that which occurred during TWA's Flight 800 11 years ago.

Phyre Technologies, Inc. is a closely held San Diego company, specializing in de-oxygenation, thermal stability, and fire prevention technologies for stationary, mobile, air, and maritime industries.