Posted on 06/22/2013 3:34:21 PM PDT by FlJoePa
New information earlier this week pointing to a cover-up in the crash of TWA Flight 800 doesn't come as a surprise to at least one local man whose daughter was killed in the 1996 tragedy.
Donald Nibert, a retired Penn College forestry professor, said from the beginning all he has wanted is the truth from investigators.
"I've always felt this was friendly fire from day one," he said.
The crash off Long Island claimed the life of his daughter, Cheryl, along with 15 other Montoursville Area High School students and their five adult chaperones.
A film to be released next month makes the claim that the official government report on the crash was an elaborate fabrication. Six experts from the National Transportation Safety Board investigation team who originally concluded the crash was an accident now say they were silenced by superiors.
Seventeen years have gone by since the crash, but Nibert hasn't forgotten.
Early on, he was dogged in his pursuit of the truth.
He queried NTSB officials.
Eventually, he managed to secure a copy of the flight-data recorder from the plane.
One expert concluded that 2 seconds of the recording were deleted.
And Glen Schulze, of Littleton, Colo., a flight data recorder expert maintains to this day that the device was, in his works, "doctored" with 4 seconds of the recording missing.
"What I believe at this point is that it (plane) was not an internal explosion. It was external," Schulze told the Sun-Gazette Thursday. "That's what most of witnesses saw."
Such developments have only confirmed Nibert's suspicions.
About a year after the crash, Nibert recalled receiving an anonymous call from a woman who claimed that her relative was responsible for shooting down the plane from a submarine.
He can't say what she told him is true. Then again, he can't be sure.
Witnesses he's talked to have seemed to confirm his conclusions: that friendly fire brought down the plane.
The final NTSB report claimed faulty wiring in a central fuel tank caused a blast that destroyed the fuselage.
Nibert doesn't buy it.
What he really wants, he said, is for the truth to come out and for those engaged in what he believes has been a lie to be prosecuted.
"I want the truth. That is what I've always wanted," he said. "They have covered up things for 17 years."
Schulze, for his part, said he stands by his original statements that NSTB officials have been anything but forthcoming about their investigation.
He said he never has tried to figure out what the motives may have been behind those responsible for the crash itself.
Nibert has been the lone voice among the relatives of Montoursville victims in expressing his anger at the government.
"I have to say I felt ostracized for my thoughts," he said. "Parents don't want to consider this possibility, which is understandable."
The tragedy, he said, always will be with him.
The filmmakers of "TWA Flight 800" are asking for the NTSB to re-open the investigation.
Nibert, for his part, said he's not holding out a lot of hope that it will happen.
And the memory of his daughter - he's managed to keep alive.
"It's difficult walking into her room, which we never changed," he said.
So, good 'ole E. H0lder was up to his brown eyeballs in another coverup?
I’ve always suspected it could have been a manpads missile, fired from a boat at sea. I think the altitude was right on the fringe of modern capabilities, but possible with the right missile. I doubt it was a Navy accident. A whole ship full of sailors isn’t keeping that secret for long. It’s just not happening. But a terrorist op... Entirely plausible.
I even understand the reasoning behind keeping it secret. Deny the terrorist his credit and you deny him his reward. You take away his whole reason to do it. I get it. I’m not crazy about it, but I do get it.
But why then... didn’t they do it again? Any number of airports are vulnerable like this. Why haven’t they tried again? Or even if they never did it... Why when its so obvious a way to blow airliners out of the sky?
Curious. Whatever it was, I still don’t buy the low-voltage short in the center fuel tank. I’m not sure you could even MAKE that happen.
CBS was able to get a GM pickup with saddle tanks to explode.....
I remember qualified experts in thier field of aeronautics saying that they saw a missle trail.
The investigators then conducted a ‘cover up’ which was sold to the American public ,
just as “the movie” that no one saw was seen to initiate the attack on Benghazi.
The government lies effectively , as long as no one asks questions during the inquiry .
Louis Freeh seems to come up in a lot of these conspiracies.
The interesting thing too...a lot of these FBI investigators went on to work for MBNA.
MBNA (the largest second mile donor ever) + Ric Struthers + Louis Freeh @ PSU = $10 million contract.
Again, go figure.
To clarify - Louis Freeh was Chief Legal Counsel for MBNA (while they were donating to second mile).
I always thought it was shot down...when witnesses say what they say - even if there might be some minor flaws...they all point to a SAM...by who...I don’t know...
I remember on tv the night it happened, a couple interviewed on the beach saw a trail of fire go up. There may have been more witnesses like that, but I only remember the one couple and think probably all footage of that and others was destroyed or hidden away.
Donald Nibert, a retired Penn College forestry professor, said” from the beginning all he has wanted is the truth from investigators”
With all due respect , Mr Nibert wants to see HIS version of what he demands to be the truth
Why didn’t planes just “blow up” in mid air before this one? Seems a bit odd, no?
We are not a nation that cannot take the Truth; we have a government that cannot speak the Truth, nor does it know the Truth from the lies it tells repeatedly. And that bullies those who dare speak it into silence.
And what do you do with a bully? Stand firm, refuse to be cowed, and speak the Truth. The Truth will set you free.
please...
I don’t know what blew it up...but if you’re telling me it just happened on it’s own, I’ll call you on it, because I don’t buy it. Not only is it not plausible, it is really inconceivable. Especially once you consider the various known liar gubbmint characters involved after the fact.
Wasn’t that NBC and a Ford?
Either way — you make a good point!
Am I the only person in the world who remembers Dan Rather talking live to the New York El Al representative immediately after the crash? (hopefully I’m not getting my plane crashes confused) The rep of the Israeli airlines said they had late intel that their plane was targeted and canceled their flight. Flight 800 took off in its place. There wasn’t time to warn anyone else.
Monica Lewinsky scandal was not to be revealed for another 16-18 months (Sep 1997).
That was NBC Dateline, and they faked those tests. They welded a long spike on the front of the ramming car to make sure the tank was broken open, and they mounted Estes model rocket motors underneath to ensure there would be a big fire.
As noted below/above NBC wuz the sleazy network for that "report".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.