[Non-Sequitur]

This was a flight to Paris and the fuel tank was supposed to be empty or almost empty. It doesn't pass the smell test, IMHO.

That same 747 had flown non-stop from Athens to New York that day. By comparison a flight from New York to Paris was a short hop and there is no reason why the center fuel tank should have been filled. If you're not going to need the fuel then why fill it and drag all that extra weight with you?

[neverdem]

If you're not going to need the fuel then why fill it and drag all that extra weight with you?

That makes sense with perfect fuel systems. So how come they are always dumping fuel before emergency landings?

[tarheelswamprat]

This was a flight to Paris and the fuel tank was supposed to be empty or almost empty. It doesn't pass the smell test, IMHO.

That same 747 had flown non-stop from Athens to New York that day. By comparison a flight from New York to Paris was a short hop and there is no reason why the center fuel tank should have been filled.

Your argument is incorrect. The distance from Athens to New York is approximately 4,900 miles. The distance from New York to Paris is 3,600 miles, which in comparison to the New York-Athens distance is in no sense "a short hop". The only short hop would be the 1,300 mile one from Athens to Paris.

[TalonDJ]

The premise of the explanation story was that they center tank was not full of fuel but largely full of a mixture of gas vapors and air. A spark in a full tank of gas does nothing. One in a mixture of fuel and oxygen goes boom.

I don’t know large commercial fuel systems all that well. But from smaller regional jet size systems...
The center tank is usually the last one emptied. Actually the fuel comes OUT of the center tank to go the the engines. There are several reasons for this, one is that really cold fuel does not burn so good. They have to preheat it if it gets too cold out in the wings. The center tank is getting bleed over heat from the fuselage of the plane (has to be heated to keep people warm and the heat gets around). So using fuel from the center tank all the time acts as a preheat. The fuel from the wing tanks is continuously drained (mainly gravity) into the center tank so the center stays full and the wings empty out first. Again, this is based on what I know of smaller commercial jets, not 747 size ones. I use to have a 747 manual on shelf but I seem to have tossed it at some point.
My point is not that this is for certain the way a 747 works, but that what 'makes sense' from layman's logic is often not the case because of other variables.