TWA Flight 800: A mother's letter: Jack Cashill reveals FBI suggested downing act of terrorism

Author's note: In response to letters like this one, we are making a final drive before July 17 to pressure the government to reopen the investigation. This will include a special petition for pilots and others in the aviation community soon to be found at Reopen800.com. If this anniversary goes by without justice, or at least an attempt to seek it, the forces of injustice will have prevailed.

I read your book, "First Strike: TWA Flight 800 and the Attack on America," and found it not only very well written, but also very enlightening and educational. I have wanted to write to you, but given the topic and the very personal impact TWA800 had on my life, it is more than difficult. Let me start by saying that when I follow my gut instincts, I find I am usually right. You may ask what this has to do with your book or the tragic event of July 17, 1996, and the downing of TWA800. Allow me to try and explain.

On July 17, 1996, my son, Yonatan Rojany, was scheduled to be on TWA Flight 841 bound for Rome, Italy. That evening, when I returned from work, I went about my normal routine of turning on the television to watch the news while preparing dinner. On the news, I saw a television screen filled with night and a black ocean consumed by fire.

As I was listening to the report and heard that it was TWA800, I knew my son was on that flight even though he was scheduled to be on another. I won't go through all the details of what occurred and how I found out that he in fact was on TWA800, but my gut feelings were correct, and he was on that flight.

Soon thereafter, I traveled to New York to join the other family members of TWA800 and to await the recovery of our loved ones. Everyday, I knew that my son would not be found, and everyday I was right. When I woke up on the morning of July 30, 1996, my first thoughts were ... "Today! Today, Yon will be found!" In the late morning, I was driven out to Smith Point to put flowers in the ocean and to be as close as possible to my son.

Never having been to that area before, I had no idea where it was or how long the trip would take. As soon as we parked and I started to get out of the car, I looked at my watch to see the time. It was 12:35 p.m. At that moment I said, "Yon, you can't just lay there! You have to move or shout or do something so they'll find you!" Soon after I returned to the hotel, I was beckoned to the 6th floor where the New York Police Department was coordinating recoveries. There I was told that my son had been found. My gut feeling that morning proved correct. I don't know why, but I asked the officer what time Yon was found. He told me, "12:35 p.m." Again, my gut feelings were correct.

During the entire time I was in New York, I knew that TWA800 was taken down by a terrorist organization. While at the hotel, I frequently spoke to James Kallstrom, the head of the FBI in New York, and he told me he too felt it was an act of terrorism.

During the entire time of the investigation, I called the National Transportation Safety Board almost daily and spoke to [then public affairs director, later managing director] Peter Goelz or his assistant, Betty. They did their best to assure me that it was mechanical failure and not a terrorist attack. I am not able to explain to you specifically why I didn't believe them, but I didn't. Too many things I was told just didn't make sense. When I am told to blindly believe something because an "official" tells me it is so, it doesn't generally work for me. I require concrete facts, not hypotheses.

Now after reading your book, "First Strike," it has become clear that again my gut feeling was right – TWA800 was not brought down by mechanical failure.

Shortly after the crash, President Clinton came to the hotel and visited with the families. He personally told me he would do everything to find the exact cause of the crash. Now that I have learned that (presumably under President Clinton's command) not only did the government not work to uncover the truth, but, quite the opposite. They worked to cover it! How can I, or anyone, trust our government? How could the president be so mendacious? How can I trust that the NTSB is really investigating any incident when they were not even allowed to investigate this one, and yet somehow they miraculously came up with a cause of the crash? How can I trust our FBI when James Kallstrom, who was their chief investigator in New York, lied to me?

I realize that knowing the facts of what really happened will not change the final outcome. However, dealing with what happened would be somewhat more manageable if I were dealing with the truth and not fabrications.

After all of this time, and given the fact that we are now at war with terrorism, it would be reassuring to know that our government has developed a conscience and would want to right a clear wrong. A full, complete and impartial investigation needs to be done so that the TWA 800 families and all Americans know exactly what happened on that horrific night of July 17, 1996.

I personally want to thank you for taking so much time and energy to seek the truth and make it available to all. Finally. I hope and pray that that there will be a public outcry for the truth!

My proof is that they've recovered the center wing spars that make up the front and back of the center fuel tank, and it doesn't show outward deformation that would occur (and did occur in the FAA tests) with an overpressure event in the tank.

"Insufficient proof"

I need a more auhoratative cite than an article in the NYT dated August 1996 ... although my own views, personnally, run to another source as the initial event that brought down TWA Flt 800 ...

The captain of Eastwind flight 507 told the witness group that he had observed a “pretty bright landing light” and that he watched it “on and off for over two minutes, minimum, but I probably had seen him [the light] for over five minutes.” (From page 19 of the interview transcript, which appears as Appendix Z to the Witness Group Chairman’s Factual Report).
...
The FO [First Officer of Eastwind flight 507] (witness #138) recalls that Captain David Mclaine [of Eastwind flight 507] mentioned seeing on the horizon, some fifeteen to twenty miles away, what appeared to be two landing lights. Mclaine described these lights as being very close together, causing him to think that these were the landing lights of a small aircraft such as a Lear Jet. He remained focused on the lights for what seemed to be about a minute, and then the explosion occurred. (138 stated he believes at some point after seeing these lights on the horizon, Mclaine turned on the "507's" lights to better illuminate their aircraft for other airplanes in the vicinity.)
When Mclaine later related this story to 138 and it was determined that the airplane in question turned out to be a 747 Jumbo Jet, one of the largest in the sky, 138 advised he immediately speculated that TWA 800 was already on fire before it exploded and fell from the sky. In essence, since the configuration of these lights on the horizon was very unusual, what Mclaine observed could have been the early stages of a fire aboard TWA airplane and not landing lights.

I thnk the 'bright light' they saw was the #3 and #4 engines fodded and and issueing flames as the engines had been fodded during UAL Flt 811's event years ago were ...

I thnk the 'bright light' they saw was the #3 and #4 engines fodded and and issueing flames as the engines had been fodded during UAL Flt 811's event years ago were ...

I see. Two fodded engines on fire, for between two and five minutes, as TWA 800 climbs out over the Atlantic, and not one distress call? No fire warning lights? No hysterical passengers in the rear of the plane screaming THE PLANE'S ON FIRE!? Nobody had a clue that the plane was burning?

Even if two engines were on fire, at that speed and altitude the flames would have cooked the engines, but not made the aircraft explode. There would have been no way that the pilots would not have received cockpit fire warning lights, and declared an emergency. Even on the very remote chance that the pilots didn't know that two of their four engines were on fire, those "fodded" engines would not be making power, and they would have noticed THAT and immediately declaired an inflight emergency and requested priority revectoring to JFK or La Guardia.

Your theory is the most ridiculous one I've heard yet. I give the "errant meteorite" theory more credence than yours.

Your theory is the most ridiculous one ...

You obviously aren't familiar with previous accidents involving the B747 series of aircraft AND cargo bay doors ...

That makes you highly uninformed and ignorant on this topic.

Your simplistic 'scenario' overlooks several IMPORTANT factors as well, such as severed radio and power cables -

- AGAIN, you appear TOTALLY unawares of previous B747 accidents INCLUDING one very well documented csae involving UAL Flt 811 WHICH incidently made it back damaged BUT with a large, gaping hole in the fuselage where a number of people were sucked out AS WAS luggage into engs 3 and 4 (FODDING them).

Come back SOMETIME in the future after you're better informed as to the facts on previous B747 'events' ... I don't make it a habit of discussing highly technical issues that entail a lot of detail involving complicated systems with the uninformed or idiots ...

Come back SOMETIME in the future after you're better informed as to the facts on previous B747 'events' ... I don't make it a habit of discussing highly technical issues that entail a lot of detail involving complicated systems with the uninformed or idiots ...

Jim, Let's not resort to name calling. I am fully aware of the early history of 747 cargo doors coming unlatched in mid flight as the cargo bay pressurized.

My point remains, that you conveniently refused to address, is that you quoted an eyewitness who watched "landing lights" for between 2 and 5 minutes, and later theorized that instead of lights they were burning engines. I stated that it is nearly impossible for the aircrew to have two engines on fire for that length of time and not have radioed an in flight emergency.

I never addressed your theory of the cargo bay door fodding the engines, but since you bring it up... Perhaps you are aware that they found TWA800's cargo bay door. Here is the exact quote from the FAA final report on page 116 (page 134 of the PDF file):

1.16.4.4 Metallurgical Examination of the Forward Cargo Door
The Safety Board also considered the possibility that the forward cargo door (the forward edge of which is located several feet aft of STA 520 on the lower right side of the fuselage) separated from the accident airplane in flight and that this separation initiated the breakup sequence. The Board examined the pieces of the forward cargo door, which were recovered from the yellow zone. All eight of the latching cams at the bottom of the door were recovered attached to pieces of the lower end of the door and were in the latched position. Additionally, the latching cams and pieces of the cargo door remained attached to the pins along the lower door sill. The hinge at the top of the door was broken into several pieces, but the hinge pin still held the various pieces of the hinge together. There was no evidence to suggest that this hinge separated. The forward cargo door exhibited severe crushing deformation and fragmentation, very similar to damage observed on the adjacent fuselage structure.

Your simplistic 'scenario' overlooks several IMPORTANT factors as well, such as severed radio and power cables -

Perhaps you are also aware that the cockpit voice recorder (CVR for really hip technical people like you) was recovered, and there were no "OH MY GOD THE CARGO BAY DOOR BLEW OFF" or "OH MY GOD, ENGINES 3 AND 4 ARE ON FIRE" sounds recovered from it. You are also aware that the time of power loss and time of explosion were coincident, so there is still that sticky 2 to 5 minutes of "landing lights are burning engines" to deal with.

Am I better informed yet?

Whoops! One additional nugget from the FAA final report:

1.12.4 Engines
The four engines were found in the green zone separated from the wings. The No. 1 engine had crushing damage along the bottom of the nacelle and the low-pressure compressor (LPC), high-pressure compressor (HPC), and diffuser cases; the No. 2 engine had crushing damage along the right side of the nacelle and the LPC, HPC, and diffuser cases; the No. 3 engine inlet and fan blades were crushed rearward, and the LPC and HPC cases had crushing damage from the front and along the bottom; and the No. 4 engine inlet was crushed rearward, the LPC and HPC cases were crushed axially from the front and inward from the right side, and the diffuser case was crushed along the right side. All of the fan cases and cowls were separated from their respective engines. All engine thrust reversers were also separated from their respective engines; however, examination of the recovered thrust reverser actuators showed that the drive mechanisms were at the head end of the jackscrew, consistent with a thrust reverser stowed position at the time of impact.
The Safety Board's disassembly and examination of the four engines revealed LPC damage consistent with a minimal amount of low-pressure rotor rotation (if any) at the time of impact and HPC damage consistent with some high-pressure rotor rotation at the time of impact. No evidence of uncontainment, case rupture, fire, penetration of an object from outside into the engine, or preimpact damage was found in any of the engines.
Darn, no forward cargo door latch damage, and no engine FOD! Looks like your theory is 0 for 2. So sorry.

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