TWA Flight 800 Investigators Claim the Official Crash Story Is a Lie

[Stewie]

A new film claims the official government report on the crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996 is an elaborate fabrication, but the most shocking part of the story is that charges are being leveled by some of the very investigators who put the report together. Six experts who appear in the film were members of the National Transportation Safety Board investigation team that concluded the crash was an accident, but they now claim they were silenced by their superiors. The movies, "TWA Flight 800" will debut on EPIX TV next month, on the 17-year anniversary of the crash.

TWA Flight 800 was en route from JFK Airport in New York to Paris, France, when it exploded and crashed off the coast of Long Island, killing all 230 people on board. From the very beginning, there were some who speculated that the plane was the victim of a terrorist attack, leading the FBI to conduct its own criminal investigation. Among the possibilities that were suggested as the cause were a bomb in the cargo hold, or an anti-aircraft missile. Several witnesses even claimed they saw an object or streak of light that looked liked a missile or rocket moving toward the plane before it exploded.

The final NTSB reported said that faulty wiring connected to a central fuel tank caused a blast that destroyed the fuesalage, however, there were still many skeptics and conspiracy theorists who have long doubted that official story. In one particularly famous example, Pierre Salinger, a former Press Secretary for President John Kennedy and reporter for ABC News, claimed he'd seen proof that the U.S. Navy shot down the plane and then covered it up.

Now, those theories are likely to get a new airing, thanks to accident investigators who worked on the TWA 800 case, but say they were not allowed to speak up at the time of the official report. The experts include NTSB and TWA accident investigators, who say they are only able to speak up now that they are retired. According their statements in the film, they believe the official explanation is wrong and the damage was caused by an explosion that came from outside the plane.

The filmmakers won't speculate on what could have caused such an explosion, and haven't yet offered up evidence to support their theory (you'll have to watch on July 17), but they are asking the NTSB to re-open the investigation. Whether or not that happens, or even if a follow-up reaches the same conclusions as the original, this new film will ensure that the alternate theories and claims up a cover will probably never be put to rest.

http://news.yahoo.com/twa-flight-800...120157562.html

[Beef Supreme]

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

For everyone that thinks this might be true.

Considering the number of scandals coming out in the mainstream media in the last month or so, maybe you should stop lumping all conspiracy theories in the same boat. Criminal conspiracy is not a theory.

[ptlyon]

I still think superman accidentally ran into it & won't fess up

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

the FIM-92 Stinger missile has a range up to 15,000 feet. The plane was at 13,800 feet when it blew up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIM-92_Stinger

If the plane was at 13,800 feet, the Stinger would have had to have been launched almost directly below it.

Geometry.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

the FIM-92 Stinger missile has a range up to 15,000 feet. The plane was at 13,800 feet when it blew up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIM-92_Stinger

I see. Chilling.

Why don't you "buy" that the tank caused the explosion?

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Frosty

If the plane was at 13,800 feet, the Stinger would have had to have been launched almost directly below it.

Geometry.

Okay, actually there is about a radius of a mile on the ground. Do-able, I suppose, but seems unlikely.

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Here's why they THEORIZE the Navy may have been involved. -BTW, I'm not saying with any certainty this is what happened. I just don't buy that a fuel tank just blew up like that. I think it warrants further investigation. Info comes from here:

http://tinyurl.com/lrgeqcc

Why Did Attention Focus on a Test Missile?

Initially, it was claimed that there was virtually no explosive residue on the 747 wreckage. In normal practice, missiles being tested or used for training have dummy warheads; inert packages which are the same size and weight of real warheads but which do not explode.

In many cases, such practice munitions are recovered and reused.

An Associated Press Article on March 10, 1997 reported the following:
The report said “compelling testimony” indicated a missile hit the
plane on the right side, forward of the wing, passing through the
fuselage without exploding.

This is consistent with a test missile with a dummy warhead. Of course, it was not known at the time that evidence of explosive residue was even then being concealed from the public, but by that time, the claimed lack of explosive residue had suggested a test missile to most observers, and attention began to focus on the Navy’s Cooperative Engagement Capability system, which had been undergoing tests, including live missile firings, along the Atlantic seaboard all that summer.

When it was finally revealed that there was explosive residue on the remains of the Boeing 747, the mainstream media tried to explain it away as contamination from a bomb sniffing dog training exercise that ultimately turned out to have taken place on a different aircraft entirely.

Had it been true, remnants from a training exercise did not explain a swath of residue ten rows long and three seats wide reaching from an obvious perforation in the forward section trailing back to where the forward section broke away from the rest of the 747.

Hey man, I guess it's totally possible.

I'd have to think about this, though...

Navy is doing missile testing that morning close to NYC and no media outlets are alerted - there's no press release or anything. Fine, I can buy that.

The Navy has told all commercial flights to be above 21,000 feet. Is that on record somewhere?

There is ONE plane in the sky that is below altitude, and this dummy missile happens to hit it (nice shot, Navy!). Stranger things have happened, I guess. Even stranger than the military hitting a moving target.

The plane crashes. IMMEDIATELY scores of people would know exactly what happened. The naval commander informs his commander, who calls directly to the Pentagon.

Bill Clinton is in the Oval Office getting his pipes cleaned by a chubby intern, and is stopped, pre-nut - by his Chief of Staff informing him he's needed in the situation room. The intern pulls her panty hose back up and starts eating a honey glazed ham that was sitting on the Resolute Desk.

Clinton - still with a RAGING hardon - walks down to the Sit Room, where his NSA, the joint chiefs, several other advisors, and intelligence officials inform him that the US Navy was doing testing of surface to air missiles and accidentally brought down a US made Boeing 747 with 230 passengers and crew off the coast of NYC.

"Hmm. Who else knows about this?"
"Well, everybody who was at the testing. Commander Howell at the Pentagon, who took the call and then told me. And my secretary, I guess. She always listens in on calls."
"Louis, what do you think?"
"Well, Mr. President, obviously, the FBI will have to investigate-"
"Sorry to interrupt, but can we get an intern in here to finish me off?"
"Excuse me, sir?"
*POINTS AT BONER*
*CHIEF OF STAFF PICKS UP INTERCOM"
"Nancy, can you get me an intern with top level clearance? No, the chubby one. Thanks"
"Go ahead."
"As I was saying, sir, the FBI will have to investigate to ensure this was indeed an accident and not an act of domestic terrorism."
"We have to do that?"
"Yes sir."
"Excuse me sir? My name is Cindi."
"With a 'y'?"
"An 'i', sir."
"Perfect. Have at it."
*FAP FAP FAP*
"So Louis."
"Yes sir..."
"Don't mind her. Louis, I want this to be kept completely confidential. The investigation, the report, everything. You will do the investigation, and at the end of it, you will conclude that there was an explosion in the fuel tank that crippled the plane and brought it down. There was no missile testing. There was no accident."
"With all due respect, sir-
"Ohh.....Ohhhh....RAZORBACK FOOTBALL! YES!"
*wipes sweat from brow*
"Thanks, Cindi, you can go now."
*She leaves*
"Go ahead, Lou."
"With all due respect, you can't possibly expect multiple FBI agents, multiple government employees and sailors, not to mention everyone at the airlines who had been told about the testing, to keep this quiet, right?"
"Sure, there will be conspiracy theories, but none of our people will talk. They want to protect me."
"Sir, many of the people you're talking about hate you and would go on record blowing the whistle - ESPECIALLY about a White House sanctioned misinformation campaign, since that's the ONLY THING IN THE WORLD THAT COULD POSSIBLY INITIATE THE COVER-UP - just to hurt you."
"No way. My west wing is a vault of secrets. Nothing I do will ever become widely known public knowledge. A bi-partisan House Armed Services committee would never get wind of this and then try to take me down. Impossible. I am impervious to all scrutiny."
*Stands*
"Good work, boys. I'm gonna head back to the Oval. I got a greasy ham waiting for me. And I better get back there before she eats the Honeybaked. get it? Get it? The girl's the ham. Man, I'm ****ing hilarious."
*Leaves room playing saxophone.*

[gblowfish]

That's entirely possible... except Bubba would have nutted in the Oval Office.

I think it was either a mistake by the Navy that they don't want to acknowledge, or it may have been a Stinger Missile shot as an act of terrorism -who knows who was on that plane headed for Paris or Rome that somebody might have wanted dead? But the reason for this story re-surfacing is, the NTSB guys who actually WORKED on finding what happened are now saying after retiring that the official explanation is a hoax and a lie. So again, it'll be interesting to see what happens after the July 17th documentary comes out. Probably nothing. (The JFK coverup has worked for 50 years now).

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

That's entirely possible... except Bubba would have nutted in the Oval Office.

I think it was either a mistake by the Navy that they don't want to acknowledge, or it may have been a Stinger Missile shot as an act of terrorism -who knows who was on that plane headed for Paris or Rome that somebody might have wanted dead? But the reason for this story re-surfacing is, the NTSB guys who actually WORKED on finding what happened are now saying after retiring that the official explanation is a hoax and a lie. So again, it'll be interesting to see what happens after the July 17th documentary comes out. Probably nothing. (The JFK coverup has worked for 50 years now).

Why doesn't Anonymous just find out for us? WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE FOR, ANYWAY?

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by Donger

I see. Chilling.

Why don't you "buy" that the tank caused the explosion?

I don't think there were any other examples of this symptom being found in 747s, before or since this happened. Although as a CYA, the FAA grounded and re-wired all 747s fuel tanks in service in the months after the official "cause" was announced. Perhaps to give some credence to the official findings.

I read somewhere that the entire investigation by NTSB and FBI cost over $46 million and took around four years to complete. The Navy had submersibles on site within 72 hours looking for wreckage, which was unusual for them. Before that time they hadn't been involved with anything like this concerning a commercial airline.

It will be interesting to watch the documentary when it comes out.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

I don't think there were any other examples of this symptom being found in 747s, before or since this happened. Although as a CYA, the FAA grounded and re-wired all 747s fuel tanks in service in the months after the official "cause" was announced. Perhaps to give some credence to the official findings.

I read somewhere that the entire investigation by NTSB and FBI cost over $46 million and took around four years to complete. The Navy had submersibles on site within 72 hours looking for wreckage, which was unusual for them. Before that time they hadn't been involved with anything like this concerning a commercial airline.

It will be interesting to watch the documentary when it comes out.

No, not on 747s, but there have been multiple incidents of fuel tank fires in 727s and 737s.

[jet62]

Originally Posted by Donger

I see. Chilling.

Why don't you "buy" that the tank caused the explosion?

The NTSB ruled that "the plane's center fuel tank exploded, "most likely" from a short circuit that jolted the tank through wiring from a fuel gauge."

Let's look at this. Airliners have fuel boost pumps that when turned on help deliver fuel under pressure to the engines. TWA 800 had no fuel in the center fuel tank on that flight (but plenty of combustible fuel vapor) and those pumps were off in that tank. That eliminates high voltage (115VAC) as a source of the short. Besides, the motors for the pumps themselves are not inside the fuel tank.

The other source of electricity in the tank is the fuel quantity systems probes and wiring. This system uses a capacitance system to measure fuel quantity. The flow of a momentary current into a probe (capacitor) establishes a potential difference across its plates. The dielectric i.e. fuel in the aircraft’s fuel tanks contains no free electrons so the current cannot flow through it. The measure of potential determines fuel quantity. This is accomplished on every airplane at all times that fuel quantity is being measured. This system is very safe and very little current is used.

Fuel tanks explosions never happen unless an outside factor such as lightning, a bomb or a missile creates the combustion source.

I worked for TWA when Flight 800 crashed. I know people who went to the NTSB investigation. I was told by more than one, "not to believe what you hear". These individuals were also afraid to speak the truth.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

The Navy has told all commercial flights to be above 21,000 feet. Is that on record somewhere?

Another thing that bothers me about this theory is how is an plane coming in and out of JFK stay/get above 21,000 feet by the time it gets to Long Island? I'm not sure a plane taking off from JFK can get to 21,000 feet by the time it hits the Atlantic?

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Donger

Unfortunately, the Stinger's range is ~15,000 feet.

The plane blew up at 13,800 feet, right?

Last I checked 13,800 < 15,000

[Donger]

Originally Posted by jet62

The NTSB ruled that "the plane's center fuel tank exploded, "most likely" from a short circuit that jolted the tank through wiring from a fuel gauge."

Let's look at this. Airliners have fuel boost pumps that when turned on help deliver fuel under pressure to the engines. TWA 800 had no fuel in the center fuel tank on that flight (but plenty of combustible fuel vapor) and those pumps were off in that tank. That eliminates high voltage (115VAC) as a source of the short. Besides, the motors for the pumps themselves are not inside the fuel tank.

The other source of electricity in the tank is the fuel quantity systems probes and wiring. This system uses a capacitance system to measure fuel quantity. The flow of a momentary current into a probe (capacitor) establishes a potential difference across its plates. The dielectric i.e. fuel in the aircraft’s fuel tanks contains no free electrons so the current cannot flow through it. The measure of potential determines fuel quantity. This is accomplished on every airplane at all times that fuel quantity is being measured. This system is very safe and very little current is used.

Fuel tanks explosions never happen unless an outside factor such as lightning, a bomb or a missile creates the combustion source.

I worked for TWA when Flight 800 crashed. I know people who went to the NTSB investigation. I was told by more than one, "not to believe what you hear". These individuals were also afraid to speak the truth.

The NTSB stated the following:

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the TWA flight 800 accident was an explosion of the center wing fuel tank (CWT), resulting from ignition of the flammable fuel/air mixture in the tank. The source of ignition energy for the explosion could not be determined with certainty, but, of the sources evaluated by the investigation, the most likely was a short circuit outside of the CWT that allowed excessive voltage to enter it through electrical wiring associated with the fuel quantity indication system.

[gblowfish]

This posted on the KC Star website today. Excellent overview of what happened:
http://www.kansascity.com/2013/06/19...light-800.html