Trans World Airlines Flight 800 ( TWA 800 ) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded Damaging and crashed Catastrophe into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches , New York , on July 17 , 1996 , at about 8:31 p.m. EDT , 12 minutes after takeoff Self_motion from John F. Kennedy International Airport on a scheduled international passenger flight to Rome , with a stopover in Paris .