On The Night Of July 17, 1996 TWA Flight 800 Left New Yorks JFK Airpo

On the night of July 17, 1996 TWA flight 800 left New York's JFK Airport en-route to it' destination of Paris, France. At approximately 8:31 PM a strange explosion ripped through the Boeing 747 jumbo jet violently taking the lives of 230 helpless people that on board the aircraft and threw them into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Long Island. Almost immediately, as news of the tragedy began to circulate, theories and possible explanations of the cause began to surface. Was it a terrorist bomb? This was a possible option in Americans eyes. With the bombing of Pam Am's flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland a few years back and the bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta at nearly the same time, this theory was quickly becoming a high possibility. Or was it a mechanical failure? The possibility of a mechanical failure is always there, but to this magnitude it was very questionable. Not many airplanes just explode in mid-air for no reason. All possible angles have to be considered. This brings us to the third and perhaps most overwhelming explanation for this tragedy. Did an U.S. missile mistakenly bring down TWA 800 over the Atlantic Ocean on July 17, 1996? It seems a lot of evidence points in that direction. The amount of material that has been found could have convinced almost anyone that this is the explanation for the misfortune that occurred. Although all of the government agencies that were involved, FBI, FAA, and the Navy vehemently deny that this is a possible cause, one must question the credibility of the U.S. government. The most logical question at this point would have to be; how could the Military mistakenly shoot down a commercial airplane? The Navy and other branches of armed forces routinely carryout practice maneuvers at different positions around the world. The location where TWA 800 exploded is right at the heart of one such area. Off the coast of Long Island the Navy maintains warning zones that were used for training procedures. These areas carry labels W-105 and W-107. These zones, not in use everyday, were confirmed as being active during the night of July 17. When a particular area is active any type of military operation can occur, including activities that are considered to be dangerous. In fact the Airman's Information Manual defines the dangers of warning areas such as these they read as Follows: ?Warning areas denote the existence of unusual, often invisible artillery firing aerial gunnery, or guided missiles (Goddard 2).? This definition shows that the pilots should have been aware of the dangers that evening. It is very possible that the Navy was conducting test flights at the time. Combating incoming missiles is a top priority of the U.S. To combat this threat the military would counter by firing a missile to intercept the incoming one before it reaches its target. Apparently, the Navy was testing this technology on July 17. Considering the fact that technology and test can and do go wrong, its not far fetched to think that one of those missiles could have been fired and missed its target. Instead, the missile locked onto the larger more easily spotted TWA jumbo jet and blew it right out of the sky! The Navy obviously denies the charges of such a mistake on their part. Navy Admiral Edward Kristensen said area W-105 and W-107 were not typically used for missile training. Although he did not deny that activity does occur there. The Navy did admit that there was a P-3 Orion anti-submarine plane and a missile cruiser, the USS Normandy, in the area. To deny the possible involvement of the Orion Lt. Rob Newell, a Navy spokesman, said the Orion does not carry missiles. But, the military book, Janes All The World's Aircraft, states: the P-3 is capable of carrying missiles. The Navy also tried to remove the USS Normandy from being a contributor by saying that ?the cursier was 185 miles to the south?to far away to have hit TWA 800 with a missile.? The Normandy carries standard missiles that are capable of covering the distance, to kill targets at a range of 320 miles. The Navy makes other claims, later proven to be false, towards weapons capabilities in the area. They also denied