When was flight 800

Read More. But while the NTSB plans to destroy the reconstructed wreckage by removing and either melting or shredding the nearly 1, pieces, some people close to the disaster say the process won't bring with it any closure.

You can never really put it away," said John Seaman, whose niece, Michelle Becker, died in the disaster. Photos: TWA Flight TWA Flight — Accident investigators said Wednesday, July 2, they would not re-open the probe of the mid-air explosion that brought down TWA nearly 18 years ago on July 26, , killing all aboard.

The decision by the National Transportation Safety Board dashed the hopes of a documentary film team claiming to have uncovered "solid proof" that investigators erred in concluding it was an accident. Hide Caption. Coast Guard pulls a piece of wreckage from the waters on July 18, Seaman, who says he visited the reconstruction only once, calls it a monument to those who found the truth behind Flight The reconstruction "was impressive and it made me feel good to be an American.

NTSB managing director Sharon Bryson similarly said that the impact of Flight will continue long after the wreckage is destroyed. This may not be "an investigation that you ever close the book on. It taught us too much and it changed too many things for the book to be closed, at least anytime soon," she told CNN.

The agency plans to thoroughly document the wreckage over several months using 3D scanning techniques, and the data will be archived for historical purposes before it's finally destroyed. Investigators first suspected foul play.

The tragedy prompted one of the largest and most expensive aviation investigations in history, setting off a flurry of conspiracy theories and suspicion that terrorists had hit the plane with a rocket. Oakley says the length of the Flight investigation was due to a couple factors. First, the time it took to isolate the circumstances that caused a very rare event—the center fuel tank explosion, which, he adds, had never occurred with a According to Oakley, the 25 years following the tragic Flight crash have included the safest years in U.

He says fatal incidents tend to occur when an airplane is unintentionally flown into violent weather, usually a thunderstorm or, very rarely, some form of severe clear air turbulence CAT. Following its final report on the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board issued several safety recommendations including regular maintenance programs and design standards for fuel tanks. The elimination of the possibility of any reoccurrence of the same kind of incident is virtually always the fruit of an extensive accident investigation, and this one was certainly about as extensive as humanly possible.

I saw none, and the real experts, who were much better at it than I, saw nothing either. However, I think the most compelling reason to say it was not shot down is that no one has ever claimed responsibility for any act against the plane. To me, it is impossible for secrets like this to be kept secret very long.

Even when government officials respond with emphatic denials, distrust is common. Russell followed up his claim with a radar tape he said amounted to proof of a rocket strike. Again, Salinger progressed the claim. The personal investment involved in accepting or progressing conspiracy theories can make them tough to dismiss, Barkun said.

Corroborating evidence is nice but not necessary. Moreover, contrary evidence can easily be dismissed as another stage in the alleged conspiracy's coverup. Purported evidence of a missile strike dried up. CIA analysts determined the Linda Kabot photo of a missile in flight was taken from the opposite direction and featured an airplane flying the opposite way.

Another photo that appeared to show an object near the airplane showed debris on the film surface, FBI officials said. Once subjected to microscopic and chemical examination, federal investigators found the red flaky residue was from contact adhesive used to stick the upholstery to its foam base, not rocket fuel.

NTSB officials said any internal speculation into bomb and missile theories dried up within months. Still, doubt lingered. During the investigation, FBI officials demanded full control over photographs and were inconsistently inventorying, handling and analyzing aircraft components, NTSB officials said. Meanwhile, the NTSB's assessment overlooked evidence of a missile strike, such as radar data, witness statements and holes in the fuselage, according to Hughes. Ask the Captain: The unnecessary mystery of EgyptAir The finger-pointing and varying interpretations of the data between officials at the federal agencies added to the uncertainty, Miller said.

Combined with concurrent reporting about real government experiments and other real conspiracies, a tone had been set, he added. Ultimately, NTSB officials proved that an electrical short could have sparked flammable vapor trapped in a nearly empty fuel tank and concluded that was the likely cause of Flight 's demise. The finding led to regulations requiring a system that pumps inert gas into fuel tanks as they empty. They also spurred the aircraft producer, Boeing, to replace the brittle old wiring on other s and redesign their air conditioning packs.

Still, investigators seemed to have difficulty finding a definitive answer for the trails of light witnesses claimed to see near the plane, Miller said.

As long as there is ambiguity surrounding the crash, conspiracy theories will remain, Barkun said. Other potential causes introduced in late persist along with the friendly-fire claim more than two decades later. Another, from Harvard professor Elaine Scarry, claimed electromagnetic interference from a nearby U. Navy aircraft triggered the explosion.

People have an innate desire to explain evil and misfortune, Barkun said.