MONTOURSVILLE -- Sunday marks the 20th anniversary the TWA flight 800 crash. The plane went down in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from JFK Airport in New York.
16 members of Montoursville Area High School's French Club and five of their chaperones were leaving for the trip of a lifetime.
On July 17, 1996, they boarded TWA Flight 800, ready to go to Paris, but they never made it there. Twelve minutes after takeoff, a fuel tank exploded inside the plane, killing all 230 people on board.
"Finding out later that close friends of mine lost sons and daughters. A friend of mine died in the plane crash. I guess the thoughts of disbelief and shock," Diana Logan said.
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21 people who died on TWA Flight 800 were from Montoursville, daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, mothers.
"I remember the teachers because they were still at the high school when I was there too. I just remember that overwhelming feeling of, 'oh, my goodness,'" Megan Conrad said.
The tragedy happened 20 years ago this weekend.
"When this anniversary comes year after year, I still think that the spotlight turns back to this town," Conrad said.
The historical society in Montoursville has an entire room dedicated to TWA Flight 800. It's a place where people can come and reflect.
The room has pictures of the victims, newspaper clippings, and letters of sympathy from people all over the world. There is a blanket with angels because some people in Montoursville refer to the victims as "The 21 Angels."
"The kids are all buried up in the cemetery by my house and it's beautiful, very sad," Annette Baker said.
On July 17, many people plan to do 21 random acts of kindness in memory of the victims.
