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Flight 800 Meteor report

Phil is essentially correct.

In Seattle (Boeing's hometown), we have had extensive coverage of Flight 800.  Here's the short version:

The FAA, NTSB and FBI have officially ruled out on-board bomb, meteorites, and missiles.  The official conclusion is that the design of the Boeing plane used a wing/fuselage fuel tank design which had electrical wires and fuel pumps on the inside of the tank (with the fuel) and that an electrical short probably set off an explosion within the tank that blew out the bottom of the plane.  There was absolutely no evidence that any object striking the plane on top or on the side -- thus meteorites were quickly ruled out although investigated.  Boeing has strenuously denied a design error and malfunction in the wing fuel tank assembly, but many national aviation experts have questioned the wisdom of placing an electrical appliance (fuel pump) and wires inside a wet fuel tank when they can be installed on the outside like many automobiles and other planes.

Steve
Seattle, Washington USA

(In reply to your message dated Wednesday 18, February 1998)

Forget the stats - they're very misleading. Look at the evidence.

The investigators' reports suggest that the explosion occurred in the lower half 
of the aircraft. Unless the meteor plunged through the atmosphere and then 
suddenly changed its "mind" and decided to head back out into space, then there 
is no way the explosion could have been due to a meteor. Meteors do not head 
Earthwards and then head back skywards again!

Several people have floated the idea of a meteor impact but it just doesn't fit 
the evidence. It the explosion was due to a meteor then there would be 
conclusive evidence embedded in the upholstery of the aircraft and the soft 
tissue of the passengers (e.g. muscle, skin, etc). There may even be tell-tale 
fragments in the airframe. No such evidence has been found. This argument is a 
dead duck.

-- 
Phil Bagnall
http://www.ticetboo.demon.co.uk/
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