i was watching tv when the first reports of this came in. they all included a report of a streak rising from the water up to the airplane.
http://www.wral.com/former-twa-flight-800-investigators-want-new-probe/12567739/
By FRANK ELTMAN, Associated Press
MINEOLA, N.Y. — Former investigators are pushing to reopen the probe into the
1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New York, saying new evidence
points to the often-discounted theory that a missile strike may have downed the
jumbo jet.
The New York-to-Paris flight crashed July 17, 1996, just minutes after the
jetliner took off from John F. Kennedy Airport, killing all 230 people aboard.
The effort to reopen the probe is being made in tandem with the release next
month of a documentary that features the testimony of former investigators who
raise doubts about the National Transportation Safety Board's conclusion that
the crash was caused by a center fuel tank explosion, probably caused by a spark
from a short-circuit in the wiring.
"We don't know who fired the missile," said Jim Speer, an accident investigator
for the Air Line Pilots Association, one of those seeking a new review of the
probe. "But we have a lot more confidence that it was a missile."
In a petition filed Wednesday seeking to reopen the probe, they say they have
"reviewed the FAA radar evidence along with new evidence not available to the
NTSB during the official investigation and contend that the NTSB's probable
cause determination is erroneous and should be reconsidered and modified
accordingly."
Those calling for a review of the investigation include former NTSB accident
investigator Hank Hughes and Bob Young, a former senior accident investigator
for the now-defunct TWA. Tom Stalcup, a physicist and co-founder of a group
called Flight 800 Independent Researchers Organization, also questions the
NTSB's original findings and is featured prominently in the documentary, which
is slated to air on the 17th anniversary of the crash next month.
The NTSB issued a statement Wednesday morning saying it is aware of the upcoming
documentary.
"All petitions for reconsideration are thoroughly reviewed, and a determination
is usually made within about 60 days," spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said. "While the
NTSB rarely re-investigates issues that have already been examined, our
investigations are never closed and we can review any new information not
previously considered by the board."
She noted the TWA Flight 800 investigation lasted four years.
"Investigators took great care reviewing, documenting and analyzing facts and
data and held a five-day hearing to gather additional facts before determining
the probable cause of the accident during a two-day board meeting."
Robert Francis, the former vice chairman of the NTSB who headed the
investigation, declined to comment.
The former investigators calling for a new probe say new evidence that a missile
may have taken down the jet includes analysis of radar of the jetliner.
Speculation of a missile strike began almost immediately after the crash.
Theories that an errant missile may have been fired from a U.S. military vessel
were widely refuted, but conjecture about a shoulder-fired missile launched by
terrorists in a small boat has never completely gone away.
The petitioners contend that the testimony of more than 200 witnesses who
reported seeing streaks of light headed toward the plane should be reconsidered.
The NTSB said after the first investigation that it found no evidence of a
missile strike. It explained that what witnesses likely saw was the jetliner
pitching upward in the first few moments after the explosion, but some witnesses
still maintain that the streak of light they saw emanated from the waterline and
zoomed upward toward the plane.
The petition filed with the NTSB to reopen the probe claims "new analyses of the
FAA radar evidence demonstrate that the explosion that caused the crash did not
result from a low-velocity fuel-air explosion as the NTSB has determined.
Rather, it was caused by a detonation or high-velocity explosion."
John Seaman, the longtime leader of an organization of TWA 800 victims'
families, noted there have been several attempts over the years to reopen the
investigation.
"Unless something was to develop that would be very clear and compelling, then a
lot of these interested parties are not really helpful," said Seaman, whose
niece died on the flight. He spoke to The Associated Press in a telephone
interview from upstate New York on Tuesday, ahead of the formal filing of the
petition.
"They reopen wounds," he said of the petitioners. "Personally I can't keep going
over it again and again. I think most families feel that way."
The documentary airs on the EPIX premium television channel. An EPIX spokeswoman
declined to say how much the filmmakers were paid for the documentary.