Is the flight number “retired”? Will there ever be another Air France #4590 or another TWA #800?
I don’t know if there is a formal policy as such, but I do remember that TWA did retire 800 as a flight number after the crash.
Zev Steinhardt
I believe that TWA did retire 800, but Egypt Air ran the same flight number the next night. I assume it’s a business decision.
I recall from a while back hearing that Airlines usually give the number time to fall from the headlines before returning it to service. It would seem to fit then that the more memorable (800, 403 etc) would take the longest to come back
More importantly, would you fly on a TWA flight 800? I would, simply because nobody I know was even remotely connected to that crash (nobody I know is even remotely connected to any air crash), and I don’t believe in ‘cursed’ numbers. Short answer, TWA could well redesignate 800 to another flight. But respect for the victims would dictate that they waited a while.
I ususally just reboot.
Oh, wait. Never mind.
I sure would. What are the chances of two TWA 800s crashing? 
I dunno…what are the chances of another bomb being placed on a TWA flight that is numbered 800? Pretty slim, I’d say. But I take no chances. I call the psychic hotline and get my PERSONAL psychic to tell me what flight to get on.
Are you saying that TWA 800 was brought down by foul play?
Hmm… there were only the equivalent of two greyhound bus loads of people who say they saw a missile shoot it down. But, just like Waco, I’m sure the government re-enactment cleared up everything.
Yeah and more people than that have seen bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster, doesn’t mean they exist. Sight is probably the easiest sense to fool.