alt.disasters.aviation
A usenet grope that perfectly illustrates why Usenet is in precipitous decline, or
twa800@Yahoogroups.com
The Yahoo grope that is home to those Yahoos too far out for their peers in ADA. Thanks, but no thanks. You still haven't cited anyone credible, just two places where cranks hang out.
Hmmm... have you taken a course on accident investigation... read a book perhaps? I have about fifty books on air accidents and investigating same. I am writing a book on a closely related subject. I read all the NTSB reports (yeah, even the general aviation ones... actually they are usually the most interesting) and have a bunch of airline ones here, hundreds and hundreds of pages each (not the cheesy little synopsis they put on the web).
The chief investigator of the TWA 800 disaster has some impressive credentials. Thousands of hours as a pilot, advanced degrees, twenty years in the Army. Better credentials than mine (I might have put more years in the service than him, is all; he beats me on flying hours and has better degrees, so far). Against that we've got... the Yahoo TWA 800 crank group.
From the posts here (not necessarily yours, thatstan; this is a portmanteau reply) it's the most massive conspiracy of all recorded history: both political parties are in on it, the five board members (hi-powered politicos who know diddly about aviation, usually) are in on it, the teams of investigators (NTSB *and* FBI) are in on it, the Navy is in on it, and a bunch of retired and former military men that swore to uphold the constitution (as did the FBI, NTSB, etc). are all in on it. SBeck is in on it... well, he went to an aviation school, so he MUST be tainted with the conspiracy! All the professors and students are in on it.
The only people that are not in on it are some reporter who stole a couple pieces of wreckage (this is common, by the way; souvenir hunters turn fearless investigators when they get caught) and that last bastion of faith, hope, and ignorance, Yahoo eGroups.
I would advise everybody who is interested in what befell TWA 800 to (1) get a good grounding in logic, and (2) learn something about aviation, engineering, or even physics. Once upon a time a college-prep high school education took you there but these days it doesn't. If you took one good undergrad course in logical reasoning (ideally taught by a cagey old jesuit) and one course in aviation engineering or safety (Ideally taught by prof Martin at ERAU) you would see why ALL the people who are educated about this stuff are part of the conspiracy against you -- or what the real deal is.
That's all... I gotta run... I'm late for my Bilderberger meeting. Or is Sunday Freemasons? Oh man... where's my day-timer?
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
I have to be honest and tell you that I think neither the kookburgers nor the government have anything useful to publically say about TWA800. There are too many unanswered questions. And before you make your pat rebuttal of "Have you ever watched a missile launch?", the answer is, yes, I've seen quite a few. Live. Ground based and ship based. From close up, you blink, you missed it. From a few miles away, on a clear day, the perspective is better and more reliable... not less. The eyewitness accounts (mostly) paint a credible picture of something striking the aircraft from outside. I don't know what, or from where, but the center fuel tank story and the stupid CIA video were embarrasments from an engineering perspective
I have the utmost respect for your opinions, which are usually based on knowledge and experience. But Navy Seals singled out by exclusive presidential EO for complete news blackout weren't swimming around the wreckage site for months looking for the purser's box.
I really do value your opinions. You're one of my "go to" posters when the military stuff starts hitting the fan. But your rebuttals re TWA800 generally amount to argumentum ad hominem - sometimes in forward gear (as in "You don't know squat!"), and sometimes in reverse gear (as in "I know about this stuff, it's technical, and you wouldn't understand.")
I'm one of the many FReepers who are thankful that Rivero with his incessant TWA800 posts blaming the US Navy was finally banned. I believe he was an anti-military anti-American disinformation tool more than a conspiracy theorist. Somebody with your background could do a lot to clear the air re TWA800 with technical info if it was really just an accident. But somebody with your background using poor argument technique will only end up further fanning the flames of conspiracy. It would be better to just ignore the issue altogether.
Cheers, and Merry Christmas!
HB