[xrp]

The questions I have are:

What altitude was the plane at and what was its airspeed?

The American Stinger missile and the Soviet equivalent, the SA-7. The Stinger has a maximum range of 8000 meters and a ceiling of 10,000 feet. The SA-7 has a maximum range of 4500 meters and a 3000 meter ceiling. The Stinger's warhead is 6.6 pounds. These missiles are designed to take out low flying helicopters, not really high flying jumbo jets.

I would think that something like a jumbo jet would need to be a Standard SM-2 or SM-3 missile from a US Navy ship. Perhaps any former US Army Freepers who know more about the Stinger would be able to post as to whether or not a Stinger could have taken down a jumbo jet at altitude.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

If this was a cover-up by the Clinton administration, even the liberals will tar and feather the bum!

[Mulder]

Now that Bush is in the White House, I'm sure the truth will all come out.

[Marine Inspector]

My father is a retired pilot. 30+ years civilian and 8 years as a Naval Aviator flying jets off carriers.

I asked him about this once.

He stated that if fuel was in the center tank and making the aircraft unbalanced, thus requiring it to be pumped to the wing tanks, the warning buzzer and light would have gone off within 100 feet of take off if not when the front landing gear left the runway.

If the warning buzzer and light did come one when they were supposed to have, why would the pilot wait several minutes and several thousand feet to start the pumps to remove the fuel.

As my father said, the damn buzzers are annoying and you would want to correct the problem ASAP, not wait.

[LadyDoc]

I don't know a thing about this, except that if it was the fuel tank, I'm putting my life on the line every time I fly in a 20 year old 747 in the Philippines. Of course, I remember the early 1990's when an interisland airliner "disappeared" without explanation and two weeks later, a bomb went off inside a plane that was late in taking off and was still taxing. SO either way I take my life into my hands when I visit my relatives. (considering how they drive, I'm more frightened in a car than an airliner).

However, One day on Fox, the "green beret" Bevalaqua talking about a different subject (I think it was the missle attempt on an ElAl airline in Kenya last year) mentioned that it had happened before with twa 800. Now, missles have take out airliners before (accidentally and deliberatly, mostly overseas). Later that night, he was discussing the same subject and although they did not ask about what he had said earlier, he pooh poohed the twa 800 missle theory in passing. It makes one wonder if it was a "freudian slip" that he later got the story right.

[yoe]

During an administration of ‘head-in-the-sand' politics when it came to anything like terrorism, it is no wonder that on Bill Clinton’s watch, TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996, was covered up with all the investigation gobbly-gook, time and money wasting efforts. Terrorism was running amuck but we were much too busy watching Janet Reno and her terrorist handling of Waco, Ruby Ridge and probably other endeavors from that sick person.

Bill Clinton refused to recognize terrorism while smoozing with Arafat, watching golf or dallying with interns in the Oval Office, OBL was gathering steam and getting ready to do what eventually happened on 9/11. Bill Clinton was an utter failure as a president and as an American. He governed by polls and appeasement, never by decision of what was best for America unless he was wagging the dog over one of his many scandals. And that flag burning, womanizing, lying SOB is still at it today – trying to drub out the most decent, respectable leader, President Bush, with more of his childish out and out lies. Democrats, beware, you are being led by one who by his actions, is determined to bring you down along with your country. Bill Clinton doesn’t like America or anything she stands for. He wants to be Secretary General of the United Nations, a rogue organization that, like Clinton, lives and thrives on other peoples money and woes. IMHO flight 800 was due to terrorism.

[genefromjersey]

My personal theory was a meteorite strike : not a big one, but moving at hypersonic speeds, and white hot in the bargain.

Seen from below, it would resemble a missile strike - mostly because the eyes would record the incoming trail, without being able to fully analyze the trajectory.

I know from experience meteorites occasionally hit the earth with substantial mass still intact. The results can be mind-boggling !

In 1950, I was riding in the back of a truck near Kingston, New York ( Catskill region ), when I saw a brief "plunging flash", followed by a greenish "fireball" that lit up the northern sky, and that looked like a nuclear blast. ( Months later,when the US conducted the hydrogen bomb tests at Eniwietok , published photos showed the same greenish glow.)

The explanation was given out as a meteorite fall, in the northernmost bays of Canada - (though most of the thousands who called police and emergency services that night were convinced it was some sort of huge bomb. )

I raise this story only as one of the possibilities-even though the comments by experienced airline pilots suggest strongly there might have been an on-board bomb. ( How about a miniaturized thermobaric bomb ? )

[PatrioticAmerican]

The biggest red flag was that Klintoon stood in the Rose Garden app. 12 hours after the crash and said that the military had no information to share about the crash. 12 hours. I was an expert in several of the systems used by the military that could share information about the crash. I know damned well that 12 hours isn't enough to perform an analysis, report to higher headquarters, and get such a message to the President.

The Challenger tragedy took several days and an additional three months for detailed analysis. The first 12 hours were simply chaos. Missile tracking, space and land based, was a specialty of mine. 12 hours isn't even close enough time to understand radar tracks and what they mean. Most people involved in such systems probably weren't even call out that night to do any analysis.

[RayChuang88]

In my opinion, there is still one possibility I haven't heard discussed: the possibility of a nearby electronic device battery explosion igniting the supposedly empty fuel tank full of JP4 fumes.

Here's how I describe this scenario:

1. An LD3 container (the main type of cargo container used on passenger 747's) is holding a number of passenger luggage bags and is placed very close to the suspect fuel tank.

2. Inside one of the luggage bags in that container is a consumer electronic device (likely stereo boombox or laptop computer) with a shorting battery.

3. The battery in suspect consumer device explodes spectacularly from the short (which can happen due to the explosive and toxic nature of modern battery materials) and sends sparks and shockwaves away from the container towards the suspect fuel tank.

4. As the sparks and shockwave puncture the fuel tank, it ignites the fumes inside the tank like a fuel-air explosive bomb with great force.

5. The force of the explosion is strong enough to rip the fuselage in two as described by the official FAA/NTSB report.

The reason why I mentioned this scenario is that a few days ago a United Airlines airliner that was supposed to fly from San Francisco to Hawaii suffered an unusual explosion inside the cargo hold during passenger loading and injured a ground worker. It was later determined that the explosion was caused by a battery in an electronic device exploding, mostly likely due to it shorting out.

[weef]

Does anyone know if any groups have ever claimed responsibility for shooting down the plane?

[VOA]

bump

[firewalk]

.

[Destructor]

Doesn't matter. It's been swept under the rug. Just like OKC and Waco.

[motor_racer]

Not a stinger but a proper SAM, launched from a high-speed-capable boat that was then scuttled in deep water, crew escapes on a dinghy. Such a boat went missing from a marina in the area that day.

[cgk]

Ping!

[Ciexyz]

Wow. I'll be passing this article on to my Net friends.

[Ciexyz]

I didn't know this book was out. Thanks for the info. I'm heading over to amazon.com now.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

...The Downing of TWA Flight 800 one evening =

...The Morning After's concellation of CRAIG LIVINGSTONE's scheduled National TV Appearance before the U.S. Senate to nail HILLARY's hiring him to get her those 900 FBI Files on Republicans or to protect HILLARY instead by Pleading the 5th.

.."It's the TV, Stupid, no matter WHO pays for it".. =

...The CLINTON Lifetime M.O.,

still.

[liberalnot]

i was listening to some of the reports afterwards on the radio of people involved with investigating flight 800.

i heard people who were eating dinner on their patios, at restaurants, tell their stories about seeing something rise up from the ocean and strike the plane. one woman offered photographs to the fbi, but they never came by to pick them up.

i listened to one military helicopter pilot give his eye witness account. i related it to a friend who teaches at a college. he said, "you can't trust people in the military", dismissing the report.

and, there you have it. bill clinton needed to get re-elected in 1996.

[HighWheeler]

This plane did not explode for the bu11sh1t excuse the NTSB delivered. The reason is simple. It was terrorism. and we all know P.O.S. XXX42's record on avoiding terrorism at all cost.