N.Y. City Council Holds Hearings onTWA 800 and Flight 587

On August 19th, I was contacted by the Office of New York City Council Member, Miguel Martinez, who had proposed a resolution calling on the House of Representatives to appoint the appropriate Committee to oversee, and hold hearings into, the Flight 587 investigation, the safety of the Airbus A300-600, and pilot training. Mr. Martinez, represents the Manhattan District which is home to many families who suffered the loss loved ones on Flight 587. I've met several families who had found usread.com, and some I met at the July 10th Witness Meeting. They contacted me, and came to the meeting, because they do not appreciate the paltry, and confusing information that's been released by the NTSB. They are not happy. Council Member Martinez was sensitive to the concerns and frustrations of his constituents and drafted the resolution. Council Member Joseph Addabo, whose District includes the Rockaway Community, was a co-sponsor. Mr. Addabo was present at the witness meeting in July, and expressed his great concern that "these people must be heard", referring to the Witnesses. "So many people can't be wrong", he had said.

I was asked by Mr. Martinez to testify about what I had learned in the months since the crash, and he asked me to assist him in securing others who might be willing to testify. The following individuals accepted my invitation: Dr. Vernon Grose, a former NTSB Board Member; Todd Wissing, an active A300 First Officer; witness Thomas Lynch, and witness John Power. Also, present (and invited by the Council to speak) were Stan Molin, the father of First Officer Sten Molin who was at the helm of Flight 587; Brett Landsman (who lost his father, mother, aunt, and uncle on 587); and Hector Algarroba (who also lost his parents on 587).

The Hearing was held on September 5th before the Transportation Committee of the City Council in the Chambers of the beautiful, and inspiring, structure that is New York's City Hall. In his opening statement, Council Member Martinez stated the NTSB "has acted irresponsibly by making statements as to the cause ... turbulence and pilot error".

In my statement to the Committee I expressed that the evidence pointed to a catastrophic mechanical/structural failure not associated with terror. However, I added that I could not rule out terror or sabotage for several reasons (which I enumerated later). I confessed to the Council that I have a lack of confidence in the NTSB's ability to "always get it right". I briefly touched on TWA Flight 800 and how millions of Americans, and more importantly, former NTSB Investigators, current and former Boeing engineers, Admiral Thomas Moorer (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), Brigadier Generals, Pilots, Aerospace Engineers, and countless others, believe, as Dr. Vernon Grose has put it, that "truth was subverted" in that case. One example I gave to the Council from that case was the nose-less climb theory put forth by the CIA, FBI, and NTSB, to explain the "streak of light and smoke" seen by hundreds of witnesses, which was never backed up by any data. In fact, the NTSB and FBI to this very day are fighting in the Courts to block Freedom of Information Act requests for that data. The best calculations put forth by experts have led to the conclusion that this theory is "an aerodynamic impossibility". And the CIA, FBI, and NTSB used this very questionable, highly suspect theory as a tool to dismiss the hundreds of witnesses who insisted they saw an object ascend to the plane and cause the explosion. Not very comforting -- to hear that the leading aviation accident investigative body in the world may be putting out "aerodynamically impossible" theories.

Indexing:

We have a "bump list" here
( see the link below )

of subjects and items "indexed" to various categories of interest. Over 300 of them.

Want to know more about Home Schooling, vouchers, environmental issues? We have them. Second Amendment? Right there. All you have to do is follow the links.

Virtually all articles are "sourced"-- there's a link back to the original, so you can judge for yourself the merits. You won't get that with the TV sound bites. The posters' opinions which follow are often more illuminating than the articles.

There is a wealth of information- some of it unique- on this site for those with eyes to see.

TWA800_list:

To find all articles tagged or indexed using TWA800_list, click below:
	click here >>>	TWA800_list	<<< click here
(To view all FR Bump Lists, click here)

It should be clear by now, to anyone who has followed the AA 587 story, the government is conducting and orchestrating an extremely sloppy, unconvincing, and highly transparent cover up.

The NTSB discounted the eye witnesses to TWA 800. Since this strategy succeeded, they were quick to use again with AA 587.

*AA Flight 587 Bump List

U.S. Read by Victor Trombettas

And check this out:

On Nov. 9, 2001, my sources informed me that the same boy who predicted the attacks told school officials there would be a plane crash on Nov. 12. I decided to inform an FBI agent I knew who told me that without specific information, there was little they could do.

Once again, the boy's prophecy came true.

Three minutes after American Airlines Flight 587 took off from JFK International Airport to the Dominican Republic, both its engines fell from its wings, dooming the plane to crash in Belle Harbor, located in the Rockaway section of Queens. Of the 260 people aboard, there were no survivors. To date, authorities suspect the crash was an accident. I'm not so sure.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 19, 2002
SB-02-31

NTSB SCHEDULES PUBLIC INVESTIGATIVE HEARING ON CRASH OF AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 587 FOR OCTOBER

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Transportation Safety Board will convene its public investigative hearing on the crash of American Airlines flight 587 on October 29, 2002. The hearing is expected to last four or five days.

The hearing, which is open to the public to observe, will convene at 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, October 29, at the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C. It will be available by webcast on the Board's website, www.ntsb.gov.

"The crash of flight 587 was a great tragedy," NTSB Acting Chairman Carol Carmody said, "not only for those who were directly affected - the loved ones of those aboard the aircraft and those who lost their lives on the ground - but for the city of New York, still reeling from the attacks of September 11, and the entire nation. This hearing is part of the fact-finding phase of our investigation of the second deadliest aviation accident in United States history."

On November 12, 2001, American Airlines flight 587, an Airbus A300-600 on a scheduled flight to Santo Domingo, crashed into a neighborhood in Belle Harbor, New York shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 persons aboard and 5 on the ground. The plane's vertical stabilizer and rudder and both engines separated from the aircraft before it impacted the ground.

Safety issues to be examined at the hearing are:

* The certification standards for the vertical stabilizer and rudder;
* Continuing airworthiness inspection procedures;
* Airplane manufacturers' rudder system design philosophies;
* Pilot training; and
* The potential role of wake turbulence in the accident sequence.

This will be an "en banc" hearing, meaning that all Board Members will participate, with Acting Chairman Carmody presiding. Technical witnesses will be called to offer testimony addressing one or more of the identified issues. They will be questioned by the Board Members; a technical panel made up of investigators from the NTSB and its counterpart agency in France, the BEA (Bureau D'Enquetes et D'Analyses pour la Securite de L'Aviation Civile); and representatives of the parties to the investigation, including the Federal Aviation Administration, Airbus, American Airlines, and Allied Pilots Association.

Also on the first day of the hearing, the Safety Board will open its public docket on the investigation, which will include hundreds of pages of factual reports and supporting documentation. Factual reports from the docket will be available on the Board's website, www.ntsb.gov .

The entire docket on CD ROM may be ordered from the Board's Public Inquiries Branch at (202) 314-6551.

NTSB Press Contact: Ted Lopatkiewicz
(202) 314-6100

The truth is pretty simple:

It was probably a baggage bomb. This caused the loss of the ability to use the control surfacse, which caused the plane to enter an "unusual attitude," which then caused the loss of the tail and two engines, because the tail and engine cowlings are the largest surfaces and would be torn off first by aerodynamic forces once the plane got sideways.

Loss of control and subsequent aerodynamic forces on surfaces not designed to be flown sideways is a reasonably common reason why aircraft break up in midair. Anything else requires a very exotic explanation. The so-called "mystery" of why the tail fell off is no mystery at all. And any explanation of why the tail fell off must also provide a satisfactory explanation of why BOTH engines also came off at about the same time. Only a common cause for all three parts coming off makes sense, and the only common reason could be aerodynamic forces.

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.