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To: Rokke
live ordinance

Why would the destruction of TWA 800 require "live ordinance" to create a massive failure of the structural integrity of the aircraft?

We all know that the central fuel tank exploded, but we also know that aviation fuel is not explosive unless it has the proper fuel-air mixture. Something atomized the fuel in the aircraft's tank, mixed it with the air, and created the correct mixture.

That is what a carburetor in a car does. Without the proper fuel-air mixture, your engine simply does not go bang.

You have placed logical blinders upon yourself, that may or may not be supported.

71 posted on 06/07/2005 11:23:55 PM PDT by Hunble (U.S. Army for 20 years)
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To: Hunble
"also know that aviation fuel is not explosive unless it has the proper fuel-air mixture."

Pressurization also has a lot to do with it. Just about anything is explosive in the right conditions. Especially in dust or vapor form. Anyone who lives in the Midwest has no doubt heard of grain elevator explosions. And you only have to stick your head in an aircraft fuel tank to know fuel vapor exists inside that tank. It is almost always completely safe. So safe, in fact, that the 747 (and many other aircraft) are designed to use their fuel tanks as heat sinks for cooling electrical equipment. The jet I fly is actually one giant fuel tank full of wiring and other plumbing. Part of that design includes insuring there isn't a source that could introduce a spark into that space. But like anything designed by people, mistakes (including design errors) are made. Just because it doesn't happen often, does not mean the problem doesn't exist. It only has to happen once at just the wrong time. Recently, I blew out a hydraulic actuator on a speedbrake that had never failed in the history of F-16 operations. It drained one of my hydraulic systems in a matter of seconds. After I landed, the factory sent out representatives to take pictures and analyze the part that failed. It had never happened before...until that day. But on that day, all the right conditions occurred to cause the failure. No conspiracy, no cover up, no trend item, and at least in this case no disaster. Just a failure of a system that up until that point had never failed.

74 posted on 06/08/2005 5:44:20 AM PDT by Rokke
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