| |
N0KFQ > TODAY 17.07.15 16:03l 44 Lines 1951 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 61973_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jul 17
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N0KFQ
Sent: 150717/1400Z 61973@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.63
1996
Flight 800 explodes over Long Island
Shortly after takeoff from New York's Kennedy International
Airport, a TWA Boeing 747 jetliner bound for Paris explodes over
the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 230 people aboard. Flight 800 had
just received clearance to initiate a climb to cruise altitude
when it exploded without warning. Because the plane was loaded
with fuel for the long transatlantic journey, it vaporized within
moments, creating a fireball seen almost all along the coastline
of Long Island.
The tragedy came just two days before the opening of the XXVI
Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, and many suspected
terrorism. Suspicions of foul play seemed to be confirmed when a
number of eyewitnesses reported that they had seen what appeared
to be a missile shoot up toward the airline an instant before the
explosion. The U.S. Navy and the FBI, in conjunction with the
National Safety Transportation Board, launched an extensive
investigation of the incident, collecting the scattered wreckage
of the aircraft out of the Atlantic and reconstructing the plane
in a closely guarded hangar. Despite continuing eyewitness
reports, authorities did not come forward with any evidence of a
missile or a bomb, and the investigation stretched on.
When it was revealed that several U.S. Navy vessels were training
in the Long Island area on the night of the blast, some began to
suspect that Flight 800 had been accidentally downed by a navy
test missile. U.S. authorities ruled out the possibility of an
errant missile strike by the navy, but a number of conspiracists,
including former White House press secretary Pierre Salinger,
supported the theory. The much-criticized Flight 800
investigation ended in late 1998, with investigators concluding
that the explosion resulted from mechanical failure, not from a
bomb or a missile.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Using Outpost Ver 3.0.0 c264
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
