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(meteorobs) FWD: TWA's Flt 800
[Forwarded for <richardson@digitalexp.com>. Not sure if the original
got through or not! - Lew]
November 8, 1997
James Richardson, Operations Manager/
Radiometeor Project Coordinator
American Meteor Society
Dear Jim:
In reference to my E-mail to meteorobs dated November 1, 1997 and in
response to yours of November 1, 1997 it appears further dialogue may prove
helpful.. I would like to give you some additional background in the TWA Flt
800 incident.
As a retired structural engineer with 40 years at TWA I have had a
considerable amount of experience with aircraft. My main assignment at TWA
was aircraft structure and accident investigation.
Kansas City is the main overhaul base for TWA's aircraft. TWA had
approximately ten (10) of its engineers and others involved in the
investigation of Flt 800 in New York. Also many of us retired engineers and
maintenance personnel in every specialty have considered all the
possibilities of the accident..
While the NTSB claims the center wing tank (CWT) exploded they cannot find
any source of ignition. In recent tests on the CWT they could not get the
kerosene to explode so they had to use "propane". In addition we, TWA
retirees cannot see how a CWT can explode without an outside source of
ignition. There are over 1,000 747 in operation including the one used by the
President of the United States. There are also approximately 3,000 other
Boeing aircraft with similar CWT.
The cause of the accident has been thoroughly investigated by Boeing, TWA,
FBI, NTSB and others. The missile and bomb theory has been ruled out by the
FBI and the NTSB. As you so correctly stated in your E-mail of July 14th,
"the hallmark of a good scientist is a constant attitude of open minded
skepticism: that is the ability to consider all the possibilities, but
reluctance to accept any of them."
You stated in your E-mail of July 14, 1997 12:28:45 PM. " I would hate to see
the investigators jump on this nearly impossible scenario, only to miss the
real cause".
This accident has been the most thoroughly investigated accident in history
including the explosion of the Challenger yet nothing has been found that
could have brought down Flt 800. To give you some idea of aircraft safety:
TWA's Flight 800 left New York City for Paris everyday, seven days a week for
over fifty (50) years, that's 50 years, without an accident. Airplanes just
don't fall out of the sky without a powerful reason. That is why I am
keeping an open mind.
You also stated in your July 14th E-mail a meteorite strike represents the
LEAST probable cause for the accident. Your quick calculation places the
probability in the order of one in billions.
With very little research I have reports of at least four (4) ships being hit
on the high seas and innumerable cases of meteorites hitting objects on land.
It appears to me that damage by meteors and/or their sonic booms are not very
well understood or documented. We had better understand them as one of these
days or years a big one is going hit the earth and wipe out an entire city or
worse.
In the case of Flight 800 the possible consequences of a meteor nearby have
not been seriously considered in any quantitative way by any public entity.
Too often this possibility has been dismissed with offhand thoughts like
"it's too improbable" or "you
don't see meteors in daylight".
In the case of the El Paso daylight meteor on October 9, 1997 it can be the
most documented meteor in history. I have talked to the scientists and
astronomers at Los Alamos and nearby who are studying the El Paso incident.
Data so-far indicates the El Paso meteor may be about 1/2 to 3/4 of a meter
across and that its sonic booms shook buildings for miles around and
reportedly shook an aircraft in flight as well as setting off many car alarms
in El Paso.
I have talked to at least three eye-witnesses who saw the streaks of light in
the vicinity of TWA Flt 800 and have documented their stories. It was also in
daylight.
The sonic booms felt at the time of the Flt 800 appear to be the most
impressive and sounds heard appear to be very similar to the El Paso event.
In the case of the TWA aircraft it has been reported that the nose landing
gears doors were blown inward and off the aircraft before the nose of the
aircraft hit the water. What force could possibly have occurred outside the
nose of the aircraft that was powerful enough to blow the NLG doors off the
aircraft ? There are reports that a hydraulic surge could have unlocked the
gear doors but this is considered doubtful by TWA retired specialists.
The calculations made in the TWA event is that the meteor was about one (1)
meter in diameter and that the shock wave could have occurred as close as 100
to 200 yards from the aircraft. Calculations have also been made that an
explosion of approximately one ton of TNT could possibly exert a force to
damage the nose landing gear doors. Only a bomb outside the aircraft
(discounted) or a meteors sound waves could exert enough force.
We hope you will also keep an open mind to all the possibilities.
Sincerely, Lloyd L. Mielke,
TWA Structural Engineer Retired,
Kansas City, MO.
c.c. NTSB-J.Hall, TWA-R Young, & Boeing-D. Rodriguez