Boeing pledges $100,000 toward Flight 800 memorial

ST. LOUIS - Boeing Co. has agreed to give $100,000 to help build a memorial on Long Island for the 230 people killed in the crash of TWA Flight 800.

The Boeing-made 747 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff July 17, 1996. Groundbreaking at a donated two-acre site on Long Island took place this year on the anniversary of the fatal incident.

Boeing spokesman Russ Young said the company is happy to support the $1.5 million monument planned by The Families of TWA Flight 800 Association.

''We are deeply touched by their experience,'' Young said. ''They are good people brought together in a terrible situation.''

John Seaman of Clifton Park, N.Y., who lost a niece in the crash and heads the association, said the contribution was key because it boosted fund-raising efforts to $900,000, enough money to begin construction.

The project - which entails a large, curved piece of black granite engraved with the victims' names on one side and 230 doves facing the ocean - is slated for completion by 2001, in time to mark the crash's five-year anniversary.

But Seaman, who lobbied TWA for a contribution, is disappointed that the St. Louis-based airline declined.

''They value their dollars more than their integrity,'' he said.

The airline and its insurance carrier have spent $13 million on funerals, memorial services, burials and travel arrangements for grieving families, said TWA spokesman Mark Abels.

''As time has gone on, we have found it increasingly difficult to support group activities, simply because the interests of the families differ and what comforts some invariably distresses others,'' Abels said in a letter to Seaman.

''We respect the views of family members who feel that a public monument will help them to keep cherished memories alive,'' Abels added. ''We also respect the views of those who, more than four years later, no longer wish to rekindle these emotions or relive this tragic experience.''

The association needs $600,000 more to complete the project. Fund raising efforts include selling engraved bricks for the memorial's walkway.

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On the Net:

Families of TWA Flight 800: http://hometown.aol.com/hseaman275/families.html

Grief Recovery Online: http://www.groww.com

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