Posted on 04/23/2007 7:02:09 AM PDT by Hal1950
ASHBURN, Va. - TWA Flight 800 burst into flames, broke into pieces and plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean near Long Island, N.Y., in July 1996. All 230 passengers and crewmembers lost their lives.
More than 10 years later, a large section of the fuselage has been reconstructed in a Loudoun County hangar at the National Transportation Safety Board's Training Center, a facility rented from GW's satellite campus here in Ashburn, Va. While so many lost their lives on that plane, its reconstruction now serves as an educational tool for students and professionals studying disaster.
Most people are unaware of the airplane's presence because the NTSB does not give public tours of the facility, said John Ziemba, director of marketing and communications at the Virginia Campus.
"They don't use it as a tourist attraction," Ziemba said. "It is in honor of the people who lost their lives."
Roughly 500 NTSB investigator trainees and members of disaster management agencies view the wreckage each year, Kudson said. Despite restrictions, Loudoun County Public High School students participating in Engineering and Technology Day at the Virginia Campus toured the facility with reporters April 11.
Upon entering the building, the jigsaw of metal and wires stands long and tall. Windows and doors are still intact, and "Trans World," the beginning of the plane's former owner's name, is still visible. The aircraft is the largest reconstruction of its kind in the world, Wildey said, and often leaves observers silent.
"Most people are awed by the size and scope of the reconstruction," said Peter Knudson, the NTSB communications manager at the training center.
The Boeing 747 had a rough journey to GW. After disintegrating over the ocean, the airplane was recovered by the NTSB in 100 feet of water, and the wreckage was reconstructed in a Long Island warehouse, Wildey said. TWA did not want the wreckage, Wildey said, so the NTSB became the owner.
The investigation into the cause of the crash, one of the most complex in civil aviation history, officially ended in 2000. The pieces of the plane were packed into boxes, the NTSB Materials Laboratory chief said.
The NTSB began its lease of a building from GW at the Loudon County campus in 2003, and it has since remained the wreckage's storage facility, Wildey said. After an eight-week reconstruction, the plane began to serve as an educational tool, he said.
During Engineering and Technology Day, Wildey explained how the accident occurred to the group of high school students. Although the FBI originally blamed the crash on a criminal act, the NTSB determined that an electrical current was able to propagate through wires into the center section of the aircraft's fuel tank, which was full of flammable vapors, he said. Within six months, Wildey explained, the investigators decided that the explosion occurred in the center section of the wing tank.
Conspiracy theories about the ignition source and cause of the crash still circulate today. Wildey said the NTSB will continue utilizing the wreckage for educational purposes and that the downed plane's remains will stay at the Virginia campus indefinitely.
Thanks for the link, I book marked it.
There never was any such video. The burden of proof is all yours.
I'd suggest that you also review Posting #26. The large explosion was below 7500 feet
It is the avoidance of dealing with things like the “pin flash of light from the land(or water)” and the investigators lack of interest in their stories that always brings me back to needing THE REST OF THE STORY.
I have my “Tinfoil hat” securely in place on several reports over the years that seem to be protecting the “stupid” populace from the real truths of events.
Can you imagine the number of things, an OLD person like me, has seen corrected. Many things have had to be re-written over the years.
I wouldn't put much store into the conclusions of a couple of hollywierd special effects guys. Entertaining they are, scientists or engineers they are not.
Besides, even when busting a myth, they always escalate the conditions until they get an explosion or other photogenic result.
In this case, scale matters.
But it's not the explosion of the fuel vapors that I doubt, it's the ignition mechanism.
For instance a missile that missed, and shot hot fragments into that tank, would produce the same explosion. And the tank would be so damaged that the initial penetration would be next to impossible to spot, thats assuming that the explosion didn't form the "into" hole so they looked like "out of" holes, or just rips in the the tank.
I'm not saying that *was* the mechanism, just that absent any other physical evidence, either explanation, spark or hot fragment, works equally well.
Well, of course, the “Hollyweird” guys only CONFIRMED what the FBI already concluded. But of course, the FBI lied too. (Sarcasm)
scientists or engineers they are not
Faret & Wendell also prepared a February 1997 addendum to their report. The following is an excerpt:
There is one fact that bothers us, however. No mention is ever made of the fact that the explosion was at 7500 feet! We do not dispute the fact that something happened at 13,800 feet, but what happened after that. There is 5000 feet unaccounted for.We would like to emphasize we approached the black-gray smoke cloud on the west side. We were at 7700 feet and were at the top edge of the cloud. The cloud center was at 7500 feet. There were 2 small bumps atop it. There was no smoke or smoke trails above it. It was still. lit up a little by the sun, clear above. We don’t why this has never been discussed in any scenarios
ALL of the conspiracy theorists have ignored that 5000 feet that is unaccounted for.
Why hasn't it ever been discussed in any of the conspiracy theorists' scenarios.?
You obviously feel better informed than I.
Have both scenarios equally accounted for the 5000 feet you refer to?
Did folks on the ground have limited visability? I do not recall that they expressed that.
I just have a very uncomfortable “gut” feeling about accepting a theory that did not call for immediate repairs on the entire fleet. Was it not about 2 years and normal maintenance schedules that it was to be addressed? Can’t make peace with that. How many more crashes could have been averted? Were there any from this cause?
I have read lots of explanations in the past...none that I can quote today. I am just uneasy about this.
Shall we agree to wait and see? Is the Kansas City bombing probe to be re-opened too? WACO? It never ends.
Google makes it much easier to get uptodated now than it used to be.
"Have both scenarios equally accounted for the 5000 feet you refer to?"
It's actually more than the 5000 feet estimated by Faret & Wendell. Subtract the center of the 7700 foot cloud of smoke left by the huge fireball explosion from the 13,800 feet the 747 was flying at when the initial event started tearing it apart. Incidentallay, here is Faret & Wendell's own webpage: http://208.65.234.212/flight_800.shtml
"Did folks on the ground have limited visability? I do not recall that they expressed that."
No. The first thing unusual seen in the sky by anyone was the fiery streak. Scan as many witness reports as you wish and you'll see that the streak was very shortlived, most estimates ranging from 1 to 5 seconds, before reaching the place where the huge fireball exploded.
"I just have a very uncomfortable “gut” feeling about accepting a theory that did not call for immediate repairs on the entire fleet. Excerpt from http://www.ntsb.gov/pressrel/2006/060629.htm "Equally important," Rosenker said, "is the prospect of substantially reducing fuel tank flammability exposure - something that was seen as impractical ten years ago but is now feasible, even in this difficult era when airline operators need to be extremely conscious of costs." But while applauding the FAA and industry for the progress that has been made, Rosenker cautioned that the process is moving much too slowly. "Ten years after the TWA accident, fuel tank inerting systems are not in place on our airliners, and flammability exposure is largely unchanged. And proposed rule changes do not include the majority of fuel tanks which are in the wings of transport airplanes, nor this country's large fleet of cargo aircraft." Consequently, he added, reduction in fuel tank flammability remains on the NTSB's Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements.
The most prominent issues raised by the TWA 800 accident concern protection against flammable fuel tank vapors and aging electrical systems. Rosenker noted that fleet-wide inspections and analytical reviews of fuel tank design have resulted in significant measures that have the potential to reduce the likelihood of an ignition event inside a tank, and that fuel pumps, fuel quantity indicating systems, in-tank wiring, co-routed wiring, and operational procedures have been modified to make fuel systems safer.
These answers are all too pat. Often they add facts not clear the questions at all.
I have heard too many “that depends on the meaning of IS” type replies to take off my tinfoil hat...sorry
As for going to Google...I Giggle and have a life that requires my time and energy.
5. 80+ bullets found but not one from Vince’s gun.
The evidence is overwhelming that TWA 800 was not shot down by a missile. Yet, the brainlock you and the other hardcore conspiracy theorists are afflicted with - instead of "searching for the truth" as so often alleged - are really continuing to ignore obviously contrary facts while falsely accusing thousands of innocent people of a masssive criminal conspiracy to "hide the truth" - after nearly 11 years.
"As for going to Google...I Giggle and have a life that requires my time and energy."
You have now admitted:
1. You are intent on disrupting this thread, or
2. You prefer to wallow in your own abysmak ignorance.
Thank you for your kindness and gentlemanly behavior.
I will try to return the favor. I tried to end this conversation before, with comments that would close the discussion. I do not believe that I have been called disruptive or lacking in intelligence previously. I will remember to watch for it in the future and correct myself if necessary.
Please have a pleasant day.
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