[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.

[gitmo]

I think WND's assertion is that this was a Navy missile that was fired at a small plane reportedly laden with explosives. TWA 800 was caught in the explosion of the terrorist plane.

[Cicero]

I can't answer your question in detail, but I read somewhere a few years ago that the Chinese have built a modified Stinger or SAM with longer range than the original. I don't know if this is true, but it's possible. And it's possible that the Arabs could have gotten their hands on one.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

A hypothesis I have never seen explored:

Would it be possible to rig up a Stinger so it could be fired from a small private plane, flying at, say, 10,000 feet?

I am sure there would be problems in this: how to set it up so the missile could be fired without damaging the aircraft or setting it on fire, how to aim the stinger, etc. I'm not sure those are insurmountable problems, if a group of terrorists have enought time and money and expertise to work them out in advance.

I could see several advantages to such a scheme:

1) The big one, obviously, is increasing the effective range of the Stinger. This is the only scenario I can think of that could get a Stinger up to TWA 800s height.

2) Being up in the air and out over the ocean, the risk of detection is obviously considerably reduced.

3) Perhaps a system could even have been worked out to jettison the Stinger gear and dump it in the ocean -- well away from the TWA crash site -- prior for coming in for a landing.

There are probably problems with this hypothesis. But no more than is the case with many other hypotheses that have been advanced -- including the "official" center tank explosion hypothesis.

[xdem]

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.

Stop blaming the U.S. Navy!

An infrared-guided missile would hit the engines. But a laser-guided missile could be made to hit the the 747 center section.

http://www.army-technology.com/contractors/missiles/bofors_rbs70/

[Mo1]

Bump for later read

[Michael121]

Stinger missile's kinematic range of about 8000 m (26000 ft).

It could possibly go up to 14 - 18,000 feet. It is a heat seeking, so it would go after the engine exhaust. It is also a warhead that can take out light armor. A commercial plane is aluminum. If the plane was hit, it would go through the wing and may not have even exploded on impact but caused the fuel in the wing to explode instead.

If the missile was fired from a boat on the water and almost straight up it is possible. It has a speed of just over Mach 1 or 740 mph (approx) the new Stinger 2 has a speed of Mach 2.2 or 1628 (approx)

[Non-Sequitur]

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.

Not necessarily. Dodn't they say that that Pan Am 747 was taken out with a couple of pounds of plastic explosive hidden in a radio?