TWA 800

[Glom]

'allo, 'allo?  What's all this then?

New evidence that a missile was responsible not a fuel tank explosion?

Is it possible there were two missiles fired at the plane, one of them missed and struck the Pentagon after getting lost on the I-95 for five years?

[smartcooky]

Normally, I would just say that this was another bunch of conspritards finding something else to feed their massive egos with, however, this...

"Those calling for a review of the investigation include former NTSB accident investigator Hank Hughes and Bob Young, a former senior accident investigator for the now-defunct airline.

...gives me pause. Air Accident Investigators are usually level headed, clear thinking types with strong engineering/scientific backgrounds, and not prone to the sort of unscientific speculation that the is the hallmark of the CT crowd.

[qt]

Is it possible there were two missiles fired at the plane, one of them missed and struck the Pentagon after getting lost on the I-95 for five years?

Stuck in traffic.

[Tanalia]

Refused to stop and ask directions.

[raven]

Refused to stop and ask directions.

So it was a male missile.

[ka9q]

I thought Mythbusters just busted that particular myth.

[Mr Gorsky]

I thought Mythbusters just busted that particular myth.

So, it was female missile?

[Peter B]

I assume the petitioners have thought of this, but just how likely is it that a Navy ship could fire a missile and no one from the crew has said anything since? And how likely is it that terrorists could obtain and fire a missile capable of reaching 16,000 feet?

[smartcooky]

I assume the petitioners have thought of this, but just how likely is it that a Navy ship could fire a missile and no one from the crew has said anything since? And how likely is it that terrorists could obtain and fire a missile capable of reaching 16,000 feet?

The only one I can think of is the Stinger (FIM-92), and its not inconceivable that they could fall into the hands of terrorists since the Mujahideen seem to have no trouble getting them. However, their maximum range is about  5000 yards, so 16,000 feet is a stretch.

ETA
In any case, the climb rate of a 747 is around 1700 - 2500 fpm to 10,000 ft, and about 2000 fpm. to 16,000 ft. (thanks to MS Flight Sim 2000 for those figures)
That means between 7 and 9 minutes to 16,000 feet. Why would a terrorist wait until the plane was out of range?

[Chew]

I assume the petitioners have thought of this, but just how likely is it that a Navy ship could fire a missile and no one from the crew has said anything since? And how likely is it that terrorists could obtain and fire a missile capable of reaching 16,000 feet?

One of the excuses CTs use is that only a few people would need to know a missile was fired, which is absurd because before a missile is fired its imminent launch is announced on the ship-wide public address system (called the 1MC) telling all hands to remain clear of the launcher. And they claim the crew was threatened to keep them quiet. To believe the crew would remain silent if they were threatened in the face of such a gross injustice says more about the CTs than it says about the crew.

Also, US Navy SAMs use semi-active radar homing.
1. If you don't want to destroy the target all you have to do is turn off the radar!
2. The nearest US Navy surface ship was, iirc, 187 nautical miles from TWA 800. The range of 1996 era ship-launched SAMs was 35 nm.
3. US Navy surface ships never operate anywhere near Long Island. If one where close enough to shoot down TWA 800 it would be such an unusual sight the residents on the shore would have taken hundreds of photographs of it.
4. 187 nm is well below the radar horizon so there there wouldn't be any radar to paint the target to guide the missile to it.
5. You don't launch missiles towards your own country or towards air traffic lanes.
6. US subs could not and cannot launch SAMs.
7. There are designated areas for launching missiles and where TWA 800 went down is nowhere near one of those areas.

[Chew]

The NTSB has denied the petition to re-open the TWA 800 investigation. Their reply to the petition is here:

http://twa800.sites.usa.gov

[gillianren]

Good for them.  That's a well-written explanation of why, not just "because we said so."

[Grashtel]

Good for them.  That's a well-written explanation of why, not just "because we said so."

Of course in CT land that well written explanation is proof of a coverup, why having an explanation if you don't have something to hide? (just like no explanation would be proof of a coverup, a re-opening the investigation and not finding that it was a missile would be proof of a coverup, ect)

[gillianren]

Sure.  But I don't believe all conspiracists are die-hards in any conspiracy, and I like to hope that some of the people who signed the petition because, hey, why not will look at that and maybe start to realize that there actually had been an investigation.  I bet a lot of them have been convinced by conspiracists that there wasn't.

[Chew]

Did anybody else watch the documentary? Stalcup's presentation of his radar analysis was just bizarre. Did he present it to FAA experts on radar or to aeronautical engineers? No, he presented it to the two pathologists he had on his show, who along with me sat there with bewildered looks on our faces, as if asking, "why is this guy showing a radar analysis to a couple of pathologists?"

You can sign up for a free trial on Epix and watch it there. But like all propaganda pieces, it is most notable for what it doesn't tell you.