THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 29, 1996 TAG: 9607290035
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: EAST MORICHES, N.Y. LENGTH: 84 lines
Investigators hoping to prove a theory that TWA Flight 800 was destroyed by a bomb that blew off the cockpit and the first-class cabin directed divers to search Sunday for a crucial piece of the airliner's aluminum skin.
``We need that piece of sheet metal'' in order to finally declare the crash a crime, a source close to the investigation told The Associated Press.
The search focused on a field of debris on the ocean bottom where the first collection of wreckage fell along the flight path, including first-class seats and the front landing gear.
``Things that come off first tend to be an indicator of what happened,'' said Robert Francis, head of the search, explaining investigators' interest in the area. ``We're always interested in what came off first.''
Meanwhile, a third Norfolk-based ship is scheduled to join the search for answers in the crash that took 230 lives July 17.
The rescue and salvage ship Grapple left Sunday from Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base.
It is carrying a Deep Drone 7200 - a remotely operated vehicle designed for deep ocean recovery.
The 255-foot Grapple, like its sister ship the Grasp, is capable of lifting heavy pieces of wreckage to the surface. In wartime, one of its functions is pulling downed aircraft off the bottom.
Its diving system allows the ship to conduct operations 190 feet beneath the ocean surface. Its crew includes six officers and 85 sailors.
The Grapple is expected to be on site today, joining the Grasp and the dock landing ship Oak Hill, which is serving as the Navy's command ship in the TWA 800 salvage effort.
At the search scene, investigators were speculating that the explosion was caused by a bomb in the front cargo section, one of them told The AP.
The jet apparently ``flew without a front for 10 to 11 seconds'' after the initial blast, the source said.
But while they focused on that theory, they had neither discounted the possibility of a missile, nor ruled out the possibility of mechanical failure, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Francis, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, would not confirm or deny the primacy of the bomb theory. But he said searchers were ``obviously interested in anything in the front of the aircraft that might include the cockpit area.''
The investigative source said a piece of the plane's aluminum skin close to the explosion would probably tell what caused the blast and whether the metal was pierced from the inside (a bomb) or the outside (a missile).
Some passengers in the plane's first-class section were thrown out by the explosion 10 miles off the south shore of Long Island.
Francis said Sunday that 153 bodies had been recovered, and others spotted on the ocean floor. All but four of the bodies retrieved were identified, according to the Suffolk County medical examiner.
Major electrical equipment on a 747 is located just ahead of the front cargo bay, which could explain why the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder were cut off abruptly 11 1/2 minutes after the jetliner left Kennedy Airport.
After the recorders, the so-called black boxes, shut down, radar continued to track the plane, or a part of it, through the sky for some seconds.
No physical evidence - such as chemical residue of explosives on airline debris - had been found to confirm suspicions of sabotage. MEMO: The Associated Press and Virginian-Pilot staff writer Paul Clancy
contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: TWA FLIGHT 800
Searchers want a piece of the plane's aluminum skin that could tell
whether the metal was pierced from the inside (a bomb) or the
outside (a missile).
The effort Sunday focused on the ocean bottom where the first
collection of wreckage fell, including first-class seats and the
front landing gear.
The Grapple, the third Norfolk-based ship called on to help, left
Sunday from Norfolk.
153 of the 230 victims on board have been recovered.
JIM WALKER
The Virginian-Pilot
Seaman Gary Jore helps the Grapple get underway for a search of the
TWA Flight 800 debris site. The rescue and salvage ship is capable
of retrieving large pieces of debris. by CNB