TWA Flight 800: Accidental Explosion or Missile Strike?

TWA Flight 800

A Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996.

All 230 people on board perished.

It is the third-deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history.

IT BEGINS

The airplane departed from Ellinikon International Airport in Athens, Greece as TWA Flight 881 and arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

TWA 800 was scheduled to depart JFK for Paris around 7:00 p.m., but the flight was delayed until 8:02 p.m. 

TWA 800 then received a series of heading changes.

The last radio transmission from the airplane occurred at 8:30 p.m. 

The flight crew received and then acknowledged instructions from Boston Center to climb to 15,000 feet.

Thirty-eight seconds later, the captain of an Eastwind Airlines Boeing 737 reported to Boston ARTCC "just saw an explosion out here", adding, "we just saw an explosion up ahead of us here ... about 16,000 feet (4,900 m) or something like that, it just went down into the water." 

Many witnesses stated that they saw or heard explosions, accompanied by a large fireball or fireballs over the ocean, and observed debris, some of which was burning while falling into the water.

“There was a wall of flame 30 feet high,” Suffolk County police officer Vincent Termine told the Independent in 1997.

 He said it looked like the ocean was on fire.

He headed out to sea with rescue crews immediately. 

“We tried to get close to a piece of burning wreckage at the beginning,” he said.

“I remember operating the boat between flames. 

But we couldn’t get close enough. The smoke was making us sick. 

One of the guys had to throw up over the side.”

INVESTIGATION

Initial witness descriptions led many to believe the cause of the crash was a bomb or surface-to-air missile attack.

The FBI initiated a parallel criminal investigation alongside the NTSB's accident investigation.

Pieces of wreckage were transported by boat to shore and then by truck to leased hangar space at the former Grumman Aircraft facility in Calverton, New York.

The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were recovered by U.S. Navy divers 1 week after the accident.

Relatives of TWA 800 passengers and crew, as well as the media, gathered at the Ramada Plaza JFK Hotel.

This hotel became known as the "Heartbreak Hotel".

The New York Daily News wrote that for the families the hotel became "a makeshift grief counseling center".

Grief turned to anger at TWA's delay in confirming the passenger list.

Then there was  conflicting information from agencies and officials, and mistrust of the recovery operation's priorities.

Many families were suspicious that investigators were not being truthful, or withholding information.

The remains of all 230 victims were recovered and identified, the last over 10 months after the crash.

The FBI, from the start assuming that a criminal act had occurred and saw the NTSB as indecisive.

 The NTSB was required to refute or play down speculation about conclusions and evidence.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) criticized the undocumented removal by FBI agents of wreckage from the hangar where it was stored.

258 witnesses that saw the accident claimed to have seen a "streak of light" that was unanimously described as ascending, moving to a point where a large fireball appeared.

 Several witnesses reporting that the fireball split in two as it descended toward the water.

 Much speculation that the reported streak of light was a missile that had struck TWA 800, causing the airplane to explode.

Witnesses were not allowed to testify at the court hearings.

The NTSB announced its intent to form its own witness group and to interview witnesses to the crash.

After the FBI raised concerns about non-governmental parties in the NTSB's investigation having access to this information.

The NTSB deferred and did not interview witnesses to the crash.

 In November 1996, the FBI agreed to allow the NTSB access to summaries of witness accounts. 

Examination of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder data showed a normal takeoff and climb and flight, before both abruptly stopped at 8:31:12 pm.

 At 8:29:15 pm the captain was heard to say, "Look at that crazy fuel flow indicator there on number four... see that?"

 A noise recorded on the last few tenths of a second was similar to the last noises recorded from other airplanes that had experienced in-flight breakups.

Together with the distribution of wreckage and witness reports, all indicated a sudden catastrophic in-flight breakup of TWA 800.

Close examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of structural faults such as fatigue.

 The NTSB concluded that "the in-flight breakup of TWA flight 800 was not initiated by a preexisting condition resulting in a structural failure and decompression."

All the reviewed radar data showed no radar returns consistent with a missile or other projectile traveling toward TWA 800.

Examination of the airplane structure, seats, and other interior components found no damage typically associated with a high-energy explosion of a bomb or missile warhead.

None of the victims' remains showed any evidence of injuries that could have been caused by high-energy explosives.

Although it was unable to determine the exact source of the trace amounts of explosive residue found on the wreckage, the NTSB to concluded that "the in-flight breakup of TWA flight 800 was not initiated by a bomb or missile strike."

The NTSB concluded that "the TWA flight 800 in-flight breakup was initiated by a fuel/air explosion in the CWT."

The captain's cockpit voice recorder showed two "dropouts" of background power harmonics in the second before the recording ended.

The captain commented on the "crazy" readings of the number 4 engine fuel flow gauge about 2 1/2 minutes before the CVR recording ended.

THEY SAID

Jim Kallstrom, then-FBI assistant director said “What we can say is that the United States military did not shoot a missile at this airplane.

The United States military did not shoot anything.
Nothing, nothing like that has taken place, would take place, would ever take place under any circumstances.”

The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the TWA 800 accident was.

An explosion of the center wing fuel tank (CWT), resulting from ignition of the flammable fuel/air mixture in the tank. 

This 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.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES

The "Donaldson Report"  stated that TWA 800 was struck by two missiles, fired from the water, most likely as a terrorist attack, and subsequently the FBI and NTSB conspired to cover up this fact due to political pressure.

Donaldson stated that "In the history of aviation, there has never been an in-flight explosion in any Boeing airliner of a Jet-A kerosene fuel vapor/air mixture in any tank, caused by mechanical failure."

 Eyewitness, debris field, metallurgical, and victim injury evidence were all proof of the missile-attack scenario.

Donaldson believed that the Clinton Administration wanted to hide the actual cause of the crash for upcoming presidential elections.

 Donaldson concluded his report with the request that Congress hold Congressional hearings into the crash and/or request that the Justice Department appoint an Independent Counsel to investigate.

Was there a missile?

A few witnesses used the word “rocket” or “missile” in describing what they saw.

One witness had once served as the crew chief of a Marine Corps helicopter squadron, was sitting on the dock of the Bellport Yacht Club.

Looking to the southeast, he “noticed an object rising vertically.”

Another couple were boating in the Moriches Inlet. 

They told the FBI that a bright orange-red glow “seemed like it came off the horizon and rose slowly, weaving as it continued upward.”

Another witness was fishing with some buddies off a dock in Center Moriches when he “observed a red light moving up into the air.” 

It was moving in an “irregular type arc” in a southeasterly direction.

He followed this “red flare” for an estimated thirty seconds and felt it “was trying to follow something.” 

The flare then suddenly “turned into a huge ball of flame and fell in two pieces.”

LATER

In 2013, a group calling itself the TWA 800 Project petitioned the National Transportation Safety Board for a new investigation. 

They insisted claimed “ a detonation or a high-velocity explosion” caused the crash.

A year later, the NTSB denied the request saying:

“Before responding to the petition, NTSB staff met with the petitioners’ representatives and listened to an eyewitness who described what he saw on the night of the accident,” the board posted on its official site.

 “After a thorough review of all the information provided by the petitioners, the NTSB denied the petition in its entirety because the evidence and analysis presented did not show the original findings were incorrect.”

What do you think?

Was there a problem with the plane? 

Or was it an accidental missile strike?