Search for TWA crash answers

Investigators reconstructed the wrecked plane in the hunt for clues

The US National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) is to begin a two-day meeting to consider the final report on the crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.

All 230 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 747 aircraft were killed when it plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New York's Long Island.

The NTSB has started using the word mystery and with good cause because it is a manufactured mystery

Graham Sefton, independent researcher

The board determined shortly after the crash that the plane's nearly empty centre fuel tank exploded, but the investigation - which is reported to have cost $35m - has not established a source of ignition.

On the eve of the two-day meeting, the families of victims and a group of independent researchers accused the NTSB - and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which withdrew from the probe after discounting foul play - of attempting a cover-up.

Missile theory

Speculation has ranged from faulty wiring and vapour in the tank to bombs and missiles.

Some witnesses say they saw streaks of lights in the air nearby on the night of the crash but investigators have stressed that they have no evidence that the plane was downed by a missile.

Flight data facts are also in dispute

At a press conference held by the families of the victims and a group of independent researchers in Washington DC, one father expressed anger with almost every aspect of the NTSB inquiry.

"They will try to explain to us how our family died in the crash. [But] I will be firm in my conviction that what destroyed this plane was an external event," said Michele Bristoff, who believes a missile brought down the plane.

Explosion

In May, investigators fired Stinger missiles into the air from a Florida beach to determine whether it is possible that arcs of light could have been missiles.

The results form part of the investigation's 15,000 documents, which will be presented on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The NTSB has previously said the lights witnesses say they saw could have been part of the fuselage which was hurled into the air after the explosion.

One possibility for the disaster has focused on electrical wiring passing near or through the fuel tank.

From the data it has gathered, the Flight 800 Independent Research Organisation (FIRO) accused the government of a cover-up, and speculated about an accidental US Navy missile firing.

Radar

"The NTSB has started using the word mystery and with good cause because it is a manufactured mystery, they have done a good job in obscuring a lot of the details that should have been fairly clear," said Graham Sefton, an aviation consultant engineer.

The group added that the government has concealed crucial bits of information from the final report.

One former United Airlines pilot, Richard Russell, said information he had from the radar data also supported the missile theory.