STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- TWA family member cites “Internet conspiracies”
- Producer: “One or more ordnance explosions outside the aircraft caused the crash”
- “TWA Flight 800″ will premiere July 17, the anniversary of the crash
- NTSB investigator insists evidence showed an explosion inside the fuel tank
Editor’s note: Note language in story
(CNN) — A documentary on the 1996 explosion that brought down TWA Flight 800 offers “solid proof that there was an external detonation,” its co-producer said Wednesday.
“Of course, everyone knows about the eyewitness statements, but we also have corroborating information from the radar data, and the radar data shows a(n) asymmetric explosion coming out of that plane — something that didn’t happen in the official theory,” Tom Stalcup told CNN’s New Day.
All 230 people aboard TWA 800 died when the plane, headed for Paris, exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Scores of witnesses observed a streak of light and a fireball, giving early rise to suspicions that the terrorists had struck the plane with a rocket.
Investigators concluded the streak was likely burning fuel streaming from the plane’s wing tank.
The National Transportation Safety Board ruled that the explosion was caused by an electrical short circuit, most likely originating in a fuel gauge line, which found its way into the center wing fuel tank, where it detonated fuel vapors and caused the B-747 to fall in pieces into the waters off Long Island.
What caused TWA Flight 800 to crash?
A section of the wing of TWA Flight 800, which crashed July 17, 1996, floats in the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island, New York, on July 18, 1996. A new documentary “TWA Flight 800″ claims that the explosion that caused the crash was not an accident.
A member of the U.S. Coast Guard pulls a piece of wreckage from the waters on July 18, 1996.
Ron Dwyer pauses to compose himself on July 20, 1996, as he speaks about his 11-year-old daughter Larkyn Lyn Dwyer, who was on TWA Flight 800.
A warning sign on the dunes alerts beach-goers to watch for debris washed ashore at Smith’s Point, Long Island, New York, on July 25, 1996.
A police officer stands guard as part of the plane is transported from a dock in Brooklyn, New York, on July 19, 1996.
Wreckage of the front portion of the Boeing 747 aircraft is displayed in its reconstructed state on November 19, 1997 in Calverton, Long Island, New York.
Parts of the aircraft’s wing sit in the hangar on July 8, 1999, in Calverton, New York.
The partially reconstructed fuselage of TWA Flight 800 is pulled out of a hangar in Calverton, New York, on September 14, 1999.
Antonella Naglieri, whose relatives Giuseppe Mercurio and Anna D’Alessandro were killed in the crash, places a rose in the surf after a memorial service at Smith Point Park in Shirley, New York, on July 17, 2001.
Joanne Festa touches the memorial wall commemorating the victims of TWA Flight 800 on July 16, 2006, at the Smith Point County Park in Shirley, New York.TWA Flight 800
TWA Flight 800
TWA Flight 800
TWA Flight 800
TWA Flight 800
TWA Flight 800
TWA Flight 800
TWA Flight 800
TWA Flight 800
TWA Flight 800
HIDE CAPTION
<<
<
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
>
>>
Photos: TWA Flight 800
‘TWA Flight 800′ doc presents new proof
But some people have come forward, “all saying the same thing: that there was an external force — not from the center wing tank, there’s no evidence of that — but there is evidence of an external explosion that brought down that plane,” Stalcup said.
He cited “corroborating information from the radar data” and complained that “not one single eyewitness was allowed to testify — that’s unheard of.”
“The family members need to know what happened to their loved ones,” he said.
Asked why such information might have been suppressed, Stalcup said, “That’s a question that should be answered when this investigation gets reopened.”
Possibility of a review of new information
The NTSB acknowledged receipt Wednesday of the filmmakers’ petition — signed by former investigators — requesting that the investigation be reopened.
“As required by NTSB regulation, a petition for reconsideration of Board findings or a probable cause determination must be based on the discovery of new evidence or on a showing that the Board’s findings are erroneous,” said board spokeswoman Kelly Nantel.
“We assign petition responses to the relevant modal office for drafting. The NTSB’s Office of Aviation Safety will assign staff, to the maximum extent practicable, who did not work on the original investigation to carefully prepare a response. The response will be presented to the full Board for their consideration and vote.”
The board’s investigation of TWA 800 lasted four years and “remains one of the NTSB’s most extensive investigations,” Nantel said.
Investigators “spent an enormous amount of time reviewing, documenting and analyzing facts and data and held a five-day public hearing to gather additional facts before determining the probable cause of the accident,” she said.
But she left open the possibility the case will be reopened.
“While the NTSB rarely re-investigates issues that have already been examined, our investigations are never closed, and we can review any new information not previously considered by board,” she said.
One TWA 800 family member reacted to the news of the documentary with skepticism.
“Some of the people involved in this group have been involved in Internet conspiracy theories for the last 15 years,” said Joe Lychner, whose wife, Pam, and two daughters, Shannon, 10, and Katie, 8, died in the incident.
“So far as I can tell, this is just a rehash of what’s been out on the Internet,” he said.
“If they have no new information and this is just trumped-up stuff that’s been out there forever, yes, it is hurtful,” Lychner said. “Why go through this again. Conversely, if they do have new information and it’s provable, it’s a game changer. I will watch this thing with a very critical eye, knowing what I know.”
John Goglia, a member of the five-person NTSB during the investigation, said he “took offense” at the filmmakers’ suggestion that board members ignored evidence. “I would never be part of any coverup — period,” he told CNN.
“This accident, this report, over 50,000 pages, if you take and just look at certain pieces of it, you can move the cause of this accident any way you want. You can take just the radar; you can say it was a missile. You have to take all of the pieces and look at them as a whole.
“The sequencing report that told how the airplane fell apart, none of it supports a missile — none of it. When you look at the physical evidence inside the tank, it’s clear that there was an explosion inside the tank. If the top of the tank goes up and the bottom of the tank goes down, and the forward side goes forward and the back of the tank goes back, that tells you that the blast was inside the tank — not outside.”
He said that no holes were found in the tank that would indicate something had penetrated it.
But the documentary asserts that a missile may have exploded adjacent to the plane.
Read: Can airlines be ranked for safety?
Critics challenge government investigation
Skeptics have long theorized that TWA Flight 800 was brought down by sinister forces.
They include Hank Hughes, who served as a senior accident investigator with the NTSB and helped reconstruct the aircraft. Others include Bob Young, a TWA investigator who participated in the investigation, and Jim Speer, an accident investigator for the Airline Pilots Association.
“These investigators were not allowed to speak to the public or refute any comments made by their superiors and/or NTSB and FBI officials about their work at the time of the official investigation,” a news release announcing the documentary said.
“They waited until after retirement to reveal how the official conclusion by the (NTSB) was falsified and lay out their case.”
James Kalstrom, who headed the FBI’s investigation into the explosion, dismissed suggestions that investigators concealed information and were not receptive to clues.
“If they felt that way back then, they could have come to me,” Kalstrom said. “I was someone desiring to get to the bottom of this, believe me. And I had a reputation for not, you know, for not pussyfooting around. Yet it seems like they’ve comfortably waited until they have their pensions before they became whistle-blowers. So I think it’s a bunch of bullcrap.”
The documentary, “TWA Flight 800,” will premiere July 17, the 17th anniversary of the crash.
Read: What caused engine to fail on one of world’s largest planes?
Stalcup is co-founder of the Flight 800 Independent Researchers Organization and has been a longtime and passionate critic of the official investigation.
Suspicions that criminals or terrorists were behind the TWA 800 explosion are not new. The FBI conducted a parallel investigation, but concluded that the incident was not a crime or terrorist attack.
The NTSB said Tuesday that it was aware of the pending release of the documentary, which will air on EPIX TV network, and of the producers’ intent to file a petition to reopen the investigation.
The documentarians said they have a “trifecta of elements” that will “prove that the officially proposed fuel-air explosion did not cause the crash.” That trifecta includes forensic evidence, firsthand sources and corroborating witnesses, and the new statements from retired investigators.
The evidence proves that “one or more ordnance explosions outside the aircraft caused the crash,” the producers said. But it does not identify or speculate on the source of the ordnance explosions.
Read more about transportation with “On the Move”
View this article:
James Gandolfini, who gained fame playing a memorable mafia boss on HBO’s “The Sopranos,” died after suffering a possible heart attack in Italy on Wednesday, June 19. Pictured, Gandolfini at the premier of “Zero Dark Thirty” in 2012.
Gandolfini and Jane Fonda attend an after-party for the HBO series “Newsroom” in Hollywood on June 20, 2012.
Gandolfini attends the Keep Memory Alive Foundation’s Power of Love Gala celebrating Muhammad Ali’s 70th birthday in 2012 in Las Vegas.
Gandolfini watches the New York Jets play the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on December 24, 2011, in East Rutherford. New Jersey. 
Gandolfini with his wife, Deborah Lin, at the premiere of HBO Films’ “Cinema Verite” at Paramount Pictures Studio in Los Angeles in 2011.
Gandolfini arrives for the world premiere of “Violet & Daisy” at the Elgin Theatre during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on September 15, 2011. 
Gandolfini arrives at the 2011 BAFTA Brits To Watch Event at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles.
Gandolfini visits with service members and civilians on Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, on March 29, 2010, during a USO tour.
Gandolfini, Jeff Daniels, Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis during the curtain call of the opening of the Broadway play “God of Carnage” on March 22, 2009, at the Broadway Theatre in New York. 
Falco and Gandolfini present the award for outstanding miniseries at the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in 2006.
Gandolfini attends the sixth season premiere of “The Sopranos” in New York in 2006.
Gandolfini speaks at the 9th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards gala at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2004.
Gandolfini poses backstage during the 55th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in 2003 in Los Angeles.
The cast of “The Sopranos,” from left, Tony Sirico, Steve Van Zandt, James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli and Vincent Pastore.
Gandolfini with Edie Falco, left, and Lorraine Bracco at the DVD launch party for “The Sopranos: The Complete Fifth Season” in 2005 in New York.
Gandolfini accepts the Television Drama Award at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in 2000.
James Gandolfini died at the age of 51, after an apparent heart attack. Gandolfini became a fan favorite for his role as mob boss Tony Soprano on HBO’s “The Sopranos.” 
Country music singer/songwriter Slim Whitman died on June 19, his son-in-law Roy Beagle told CNN. He was 90. Above, Whitman poses with his guitar at a press conference at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London, on February 22, 1956.
Esther Williams, whose success as a competitive swimmer propelled her to Hollywood stardom during the 1940s and 1950s, died on Thursday, June 6 in California, according to her spokesman.
David “Deacon” Jones, who is credited with coining the term “sacking the quarterback” during his stint as one of the greatest defensive ends in the NFL, has died.
Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey died June 3 of viral pneumonia, his office said. Lautenberg, 89, had been the Senate’s last surviving veteran of World War II.
Actress Jean Stapleton, best known for her role as Archie Bunker’s wife, Edith, in the groundbreaking 1970s TV sitcom “All in the Family,” died at age 90 on Saturday, June 1. 
Ed Shaughnessy, the longtime drummer for “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” has died, a close friend said Sunday. He was 84.
Ray Manzarek, keyboardist and founding member of The Doors, passed away of cancer on Monday, May 20. He was 74.
NASCAR legend Dick Trickle died on May 16 of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 71.
Popular American psychologist and television personality Dr. Joyce Brothers died at 85, her daughter said on May 13. Brothers gained fame as a frequent guest on television talk shows and as an advice columnist for Good Housekeeping magazine and newspapers throughout the United States.
Jeanne Cooper, who played Katherine Chancellor, the “Dame of Genoa City,” on “The Young and the Restless,” died on May 8. She was 84.
Ray Harryhausen, the stop-motion animation and special-effects master whose work influenced such directors as Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and George Lucas, died on May 7 at age 92, according to the Facebook page of the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation.
Grammy-winning guitarist Jeff Hanneman, a founding member of the heavy metal band Slayer, died on May 2 of liver failure. He was 49.
Chris Kelly, one-half of the 1990s rap duo Kris Kross, died on May 1 at an Atlanta hospital after being found unresponsive at his home, the Fulton County medical examiner’s office told CNN.
George Jones, the country music legend whose graceful, evocative voice gave depth to some of the greatest songs in country music — including “She Thinks I Still Care,” “The Grand Tour” and “He Stopped Loving Her Today” — died on April 26 at age 81, according to his public relations firm.
Actor Allan Arbus poses for a portrait with his daughter photographer Amy Arbus in 2007. Allan Arbus, who played psychiatrist Maj. Sidney Freedman in the M*A*S*H television series, died at age 95, his daughter’s representative said April 23.
Folk singer Richie Havens, the opening act at the 1969 Woodstock music festival, died on April 22 of a heart attack, his publicist said. He was 72.
Australian rocker Chrissy Amphlett, the Divinyls lead singer whose group scored an international hit with the sexually charged “I Touch Myself” in the early 1990s, died on April 21 from breast cancer and multiple sclerosis, her husband said. She was 53.
Pat Summerall, the NFL football player turned legendary play-by-play announcer, was best known as a broadcaster who teamed up with former NFL coach John Madden. Summerall died April 16 at the age of 82.
Comedian Jonathan Winters died on April 11 at age 87. Known for his comic irreverence, he had a major influence on a generation of comedians. Here he appears on “The Jonathan Winters Show” in 1956. 
Sir Robert Edwards, a “co-pioneer” of the in vitro fertilization technique and Nobel Prize winner, died April 10 in his sleep after a long illness, the University of Cambridge said. He was 87. He is pictured on July 25, 1978, holding the world’s first “test-tube baby,” Louise Joy Brown, alongside the midwife and Dr. Patrick Steptoe, who helped develop the fertility treatment.
Annette Funicello, one of the best-known members of the original 1950s “Mickey Mouse Club” and a star of 1960s “beach party” movies, died at age 70 on April 8. Pictured, Funicello performs with Jimmie Dodd on “The Mickey Mouse Club” in1957.
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a towering figure in postwar British and world politics and the only woman to become British prime minister, died at the age of 87 on Monday, April 8.
Designer Lilly Pulitzer, right, died on April 7 at age 81, according to her company’s Facebook page. The Palm Beach socialite was known for making sleeveless dresses from bright floral prints that became known as the “Lilly” design. 
Film critic Roger Ebert died on April 4, according to his employer, the Chicago Sun-Times. He was 70. Ebert had taken a leave of absence on April 2 after a hip fracture was revealed to be cancer.
Jane Nebel Henson, wife of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson and instrumental in the development of the world-famous puppets, died April 2 after a long battle with cancer. She was 78.
Shain Gandee, one of the stars of the MTV reality show “Buckwild,” was found dead with two other people in Kanawha County, West Virginia, on April 1. He was 21.
Music producer and innovator Phil Ramone, right, with Paul Shaffer, left, and Billy Joel at the Song Writers Hall of Fame Awards in New York in 2001. Ramone died March 30 at the age of 72.
Writer/producer Don Payne, one of the creative minds behind “The Simpsons,” died March 26 at his home in Los Angeles after losing a battle with bone cancer, reports say. He was 48.
Gordon Stoker, left, who as part of the vocal group the Jordanaires sang backup on hits by Elvis Presley, died March 27 at 88.
Deke Richards, center, died March 24 at age 68. Richards was a producer and songwriter who was part of the team responsible for Motown hits such as “I Want You Back” and “Maybe Tomorrow.” He had been battling esophageal cancer.
Legendary publisher, promoter and weightlifter Joe Weider, who created the Mr. Olympia contest and brought California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the United States, died at age 93 on March 23.
Playboy magazine’s 1962 “Playmate of the Year,” Christa Speck Krofft, died March 22 of natural causes at the age of 70.
Rena Golden, who held top positions at CNN, died at age 51 after battling lymphoma for two years on March 21. 
Harry Reems, the porn star best known for playing Dr. Young in the 1972 adult film classic “Deep Throat,” died March 19, according to a spokeswoman at a Salt Lake City hospital. Reems, whose real name is Herbert Streicher, was 65.
Bobbie Smith, who as a member of the Spinners sang lead on such hits as “I’ll Be Around” and “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” died on March 16 at age 76. Pictured clockwise from left, Spinners band member Pervis Jackson, Billy Henderson, Jonathan Edwards, Bobbie Smith and Henry Fambrough, 1977.
Sweden’s Princess Lilian, the Welsh-born model who lived with her lover Prince Bertil for 30 years before they were married, has died at the age of 97, the Swedish Royal Court said in a statement.
Alvin Lee, the speed-fingered British guitarist who lit up Woodstock with a monumental 11-minute version of his song “I’m Going Home,” died on March 6, according to his website. He was 68.
Hugo Chavez, the polarizing president of Venezuela who cast himself as a “21st century socialist” and foe of the United States, died March 5, said Vice President Nicolas Maduro.
Bobby Rogers, one of the original members of Motown staple The Miracles, died on Sunday, March 3, at 73. From left: Bobby Rogers, Ronald White, Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore circa 1965.
Actress Bonnie Franklin, star of the TV show “One Day at a Time,” died at the age of 69 on March 1 of complications from pancreatic cancer.
Actor Dale Robertson, who was popular for his western TV shows and movies, died at age 89 on Thursday, February 28. 
Richard Street, former member of the Temptations, died at age 70 on February 27. Street, second from the left, poses for a portrait with fellow members of the Temptations circa 1973.
Van Cliburn, the legendary pianist honored with a New York ticker-tape parade for winning a major Moscow competition in 1958, died on February 27 after a battle with bone cancer, his publicist said. He was 78.
Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop died on February 25. He was 96. Koop served as surgeon general from 1982 to 1989, under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
Damon Harris, former member of the Motown group the Temptations, died at age 62 on February 18. Harris, center on the stool, poses for a portrait with fellow members of The Temptations circa 1974. 
Lou Myers, a stage, film and TV actor who memorably portrayed Mr. Gaines on the comedy “A Different World,” died on February 19 at the age of 75.
Los Angeles Laker owner Jerry Buss died February 18 at age 80. Buss, who had owned the Lakers since 1979, was credited with procuring the likes of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. The Lakers won 10 NBA championships and 16 Western Conference titles under Buss’ ownership.
Country singer Mindy McCready was found dead on February 17 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. She was 37. During her career, McCready landed 14 songs and six albums on the Billboard country charts.
Ed Koch, the brash former New York mayor, died February 1 of congestive heart failure at 88, his spokesman said.
Patty Andrews, center, the last surviving member of the Andrews Sisters, died at her Northridge, California, home on January 30, her publicist Alan Eichler said. She was 94. Patty is seen in this 1948 photograph with her sisters Maxene, left, and Laverne.
Baseball Hall of Famer and St. Louis Cardinals great Stan Musial died on January 19, according to his former team. He was 92.
Baseball Hall of Fame manager Earl Sidney Weaver, who led the Baltimore Orioles to four pennants and a World Series title with a pugnacity toward umpires, died January 19 of an apparent heart attack at age 82, Major League Baseball said.
Pauline Phillips, better known to millions of newspaper readers as the original Dear Abby advice columnist, has died after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. She died January 16 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at age 94.
Aaron Swartz, the Internet activist who co-wrote the initial specification for RSS, committed suicide, a relative told CNN on January 12. He was 26. Swartz also co-founded Demand Progress, a political action group that campaigns against Internet censorship.
Claude Nobs, the founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival, died aged 76 following a skiing accident.
Richard Ben Cramer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer whose 1992 book “What It Takes” remains one of the most detailed and passionate of all presidential campaign chronicles, died January 7, according to his longtime agent. He was 62.
Director and stuntman David R. Ellis died on January 7. He directed “Snakes on a Plane.”
Tony Lip, who played mob figures in the hit cable show “The Sopranos” and several critically acclaimed movies, died January 4, a funeral home official said. Lip, whose real name was Frank Vallelonga, was 82.
Character actor Ned Wertimer, known to fans of “The Jeffersons” as the doorman Ralph Hart, died on January 2. He was 89.
Pop-country singer Patti Page died on January 1 in Encinitas, California. She was 85. Born Clara Ann Fowler, Page was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s and had 19 gold and 14 platinum singles. 
