N.Y. Crash Probe Suggests Pilot’s Action Led to Fire

The federal investigation of the aborted takeoff of a Trans World Airlines jet that caught fire at John F. Kennedy International Airport last Thursday is turning up evidence that the blaze that engulfed the jet was actually started by an ill-considered abort procedure initiated by the pilot.

Capt. William Kinkead, originally hailed as a hero and credited with saving all 292 people aboard his Lockheed L-1011 jet, seized the controls from his co-pilot and aborted the takeoff because an alarm went off suggesting the jet was about to stall. That alarm now appears to have been false.

Loaded with passengers and fuel for a long trip to San Francisco, the jet was 71,000 pounds over its maximum certified landing weight. When it came pounding back to the ground, a metal spar under the right wing fuel tank apparently cracked, sending fuel spilling out.

Initial reports had said that Kinkead aborted the takeoff after air traffic controllers warned that the plane was trailing smoke. But Kinkead put the plane down before receiving word from controllers that his plane was on fire.