USMCmech
Well-Known Member
Oh, boy! This one again.
1st The FBI did in fact take over the investigation from the NTSB and ROYALLY screwed it up. They heard "airplane explosion" and immediately assumed that a terrorist bomb must have been the cause. They ran roughshod over the NTSB, who actually knew how to investigate airplane disasters. After some time, the utter lack of evidence of any explosive device forced them to reevaluate and hand the investigation back to the NTSB. This is a classic case study in letting initial assumptions direct an investigation down the wrong path. The FBI actually uses this investigation as a teaching tool for their agents to not assume anything that is not supported by the evidence.
This is evidence of incompetence, not conspiracy.
2nd The Navy missile shoot down theory is plausible at first, but fall apart over time. There is a Navy missile test range not far from the accident site, and it is certainly possible that someone could have screwed up like the USS Vincennes. The biggest problem with this theroy is that no one seriously believes that the government could keep this a secret for this long. There are about 250-350 crewmen on a DDG or CG, and you expect me to believe that NOBODY has come forward to admit that their ship killed all those people?
What about a shoulder fired missile? These were designed to shoot down low level attack jets and helicopters, not 747s climbing through 10,000 feet. Theoretically a stinger can hit a target at 10K, but I personally spoke to a qualified missile gunner in the Corps and he said it would be a near impossible shot even by a trained expert. Even it it had hit the plane, despite what the movies say, airplanes to not instantly explode into a fireball when hit by a missile. A MANPAD might have taken out one of the plane's engines such as happened to the DHL A300 in Bagdad, but that plane remained flyable and landed in one piece.
The second problem is that lack of shrapnel damage to the wreckage. There just isn't any physical evidence supporting a missile strike.
3rd Hundreds of eyewitnesses can be and often are completely wrong. All the eyewitnesses are reporting what they THOUGHT they saw, not what they actually saw happen. This is true in this case and every other investigation. The human brain stores images as parts of a story. So when it sees something unusual it creates a palausable story to explain what it saw. A bright streak of light headed upward, followed by a flash and loud noise is most easily explained by a missile and that is what they told investigators. They are not being dishonest, but they are not correct either.
4th Yes, JetA can explode! Or more accurately, kerosene vapors under pressure and heated to the flashpoint can explode. There have actually been 2 other center fuel tank explosions of Boeing aircraft on record. Both cases were the result of empty center fuel tanks, and were believed to be ignited by a stray spark. I agree with MikeD that the NTSB was stretching to identify the exact source of ignition, but it is still the least unlikely scenario.
5th If things didn't happen like the official report, then what did in fact happen?
1st The FBI did in fact take over the investigation from the NTSB and ROYALLY screwed it up. They heard "airplane explosion" and immediately assumed that a terrorist bomb must have been the cause. They ran roughshod over the NTSB, who actually knew how to investigate airplane disasters. After some time, the utter lack of evidence of any explosive device forced them to reevaluate and hand the investigation back to the NTSB. This is a classic case study in letting initial assumptions direct an investigation down the wrong path. The FBI actually uses this investigation as a teaching tool for their agents to not assume anything that is not supported by the evidence.
This is evidence of incompetence, not conspiracy.
2nd The Navy missile shoot down theory is plausible at first, but fall apart over time. There is a Navy missile test range not far from the accident site, and it is certainly possible that someone could have screwed up like the USS Vincennes. The biggest problem with this theroy is that no one seriously believes that the government could keep this a secret for this long. There are about 250-350 crewmen on a DDG or CG, and you expect me to believe that NOBODY has come forward to admit that their ship killed all those people?
What about a shoulder fired missile? These were designed to shoot down low level attack jets and helicopters, not 747s climbing through 10,000 feet. Theoretically a stinger can hit a target at 10K, but I personally spoke to a qualified missile gunner in the Corps and he said it would be a near impossible shot even by a trained expert. Even it it had hit the plane, despite what the movies say, airplanes to not instantly explode into a fireball when hit by a missile. A MANPAD might have taken out one of the plane's engines such as happened to the DHL A300 in Bagdad, but that plane remained flyable and landed in one piece.
The second problem is that lack of shrapnel damage to the wreckage. There just isn't any physical evidence supporting a missile strike.
3rd Hundreds of eyewitnesses can be and often are completely wrong. All the eyewitnesses are reporting what they THOUGHT they saw, not what they actually saw happen. This is true in this case and every other investigation. The human brain stores images as parts of a story. So when it sees something unusual it creates a palausable story to explain what it saw. A bright streak of light headed upward, followed by a flash and loud noise is most easily explained by a missile and that is what they told investigators. They are not being dishonest, but they are not correct either.
4th Yes, JetA can explode! Or more accurately, kerosene vapors under pressure and heated to the flashpoint can explode. There have actually been 2 other center fuel tank explosions of Boeing aircraft on record. Both cases were the result of empty center fuel tanks, and were believed to be ignited by a stray spark. I agree with MikeD that the NTSB was stretching to identify the exact source of ignition, but it is still the least unlikely scenario.
5th If things didn't happen like the official report, then what did in fact happen?
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