That type of aircraft had sat on tarmacs in the
Middle-Eastern region in 120 plus temperatures
with no problems. The idea it’s air-conditioning units
had become over heated is nothing if not silly.
Those mechanisms that reportedly failed were swapped
out and inspected. I don’t believe any could be found
that were on the verge of failing.
Then you have all the witnesses, some of them ex-military
that knew what missiles look like, and swore they observed
a missile.
I’m not an airline employee. My thoughts are my own
personal opinions that I have to justify to myself, not
just others.
I looked at who agreed with me, to see if I was out-there
or not. Witnesses, airline pilots, industry insiders, and
one person with aircraft investigation experience, found
the explanation provided to be absolutely absurd.
I’ve never been tempted by that explanation. I never will
be.
It’s not that the air conditioning units themselves over heat. It’s that they are a source of heat for the fuel in the center tank, and it is capable of heating the fuel above the flash point of jet-A.
And that alone of course is not enough to ignite the fuel. The pilot is heard on the flight recorder mentioning faulty center tank readings, and there was evidence of wire chafing in the cable bundle which contains the fuel quantity instrumentation wiring. Also contained in that cable bundle are high voltage wires.
I work in an old power plant and it is quite common that older wiring chafes and signals get crossed. Just yesterday we had a breaker that indicates open and closed at the same time when the pump is running. The two cross connected circuits were both 48vdc, but had it mixed with 125vdc, damage would likely have resulted to the equipment receiving the signal. I don’t see why aircraft wiring would be exempt from this type of failure.
And don’t forget, flight 800 wasn’t the first or last Boeing plane to be destroyed due to a center tank explosion.