I don’t usually blab conspiracy theories; it’s just that I’m
a little shocked this didn’t make the news more.
Not a single reporter on the news talk radio station I
listen to even mentioned this in passing. While talk of celebrity deaths filled
the airwaves, the possibility that the deaths of 230 people was caused by
something other than a manufacturing defect was largely ignored. In fact, out
of all the local news sources I follow on Twitter, only one even tweeted a
link. From what I understand, Fox News was the only cable news channel to give
this more than a quick mention.
I know this incident is largely forgotten, buried under the
dust of 9-11 and more recent tragedies. However, in my mind, this may have been
the first overt terrorist attack (I can’t say on American soil, though I want
to, it was a plane after all) in my lifetime. I was a morose teenager, into
photography and broadcasting and dark rock music. It was that day that I
finally pierced my own nose. Having returned from a dentist appointment and
still numb on one side, it was an opportunity too perfect to miss. I jammed a
safety pin through my skin and then discovered I didn’t have anything suitable to
put in the hole. Returning to a friend’s house after running out to buy a nose
ring, we were approached by friend’s brother excitedly, in a panicky voice,
telling us there had been a terrorist attack.
And in those first weeks, that was what everyone believed it
was. Planes don’t just explode and fall from the sky. Talk about RPG’s, bombs,
accidental friendly fire from a military exercise pervaded the news reports. It
was inconceivable that this wasn’t a terrorist attack. I leaned toward the idea
of a botched hijacking attempt.
The final decision of the NTSB was different: an accident
caused by faulty wiring on the Boeing-built 747’s center fuel tank caused fumes
to ignite, blowing 230 people to the afterlife. I recall that Boeing had to pay
a large settlement for their supposed culpability in the accident. Soon, TWA
was out of business.
Many people weren’t willing to believe that the center fuel
tank’s purported defect could have caused the explosion. My grandfather didn’t
buy it and he was a retired technical writer for Boeing. Then the books started
showing up on shelves, conspiracy theories from a government cover-up to
prevent the American public from panicking and implicating Osama Bin Laden to
accusations that the Navy exercise that had been taking place near the crash
site had lost control of a test missile. Either way, I wasn’t satisfied with
any of the explanations.
Now the news is that the NTSB wants to reopen the case and
take a better look at what they claim is new (to them) evidence that suggests
it may have been an errant missile from the military training exercise nearby.
17 years later.
All I can say is that I’d really like to have a final
conclusion to this one. The TWA 800 explosion is one of the reasons I don’t
fly. Even knowing that their fate was instantaneous, the idea of falling from
the sky and having however much time to sit in fear before smashing into the
ground… that’s more than I can handle. Seriously panic attack worthy.
Though I should admit that I have flown. Right after 9-11,
in fact. Loaded on Benadryl. Reading a copy of this:
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