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The crash of TWA Flight 800 has become one of the great mysteries in aviation history. Like others before it, it may well remain so.
Within hours of the July 1996 crash, some theorized that the plane was destroyed by a bomb planted on board or struck by a U.S. missile. The FBI was called in to investigate possible criminal causes while the National Transportation Safety Board began the laborious process of retrieving and reassembling the wreckage.
After a 16-month probe, the FBI announced it was suspending its investigation, having found no evidence of a criminal act. This came only a week after a retraction by one of the leading proponents of the missile theory.
The FBI's decision left investigators with only one theory: that a mechanical failure caused the crash. The NTSB was continuing its probe into what type of problem may have caused vapors to ignite in the plane's center fuel tank.
The decision was little comfort to the families of victims or to TWA, which has also been at a loss to explain the crash. "It is very disappointing that another government agency is reporting they do not know what caused this," said TWA spoeksman Mark Abels. "We are looking forward to the day that some agency does know what caused it."
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