Editing TWA Flight 800 (section)

==Initial investigation==
The NTSB was notified at approximately 8:50&nbsp;p.m. on the day of the accident. A full "[[National Transportation Safety Board#Accident and incident investigations|go team]]" was assembled in Washington, D.C., and arrived on the scene early the next morning.<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|313}} Meanwhile, initial witness descriptions led many to believe that the cause of the crash was a bomb or [[surface-to-air missile]] attack.<ref name="CNN Initial">{{cite news |date=July 17, 1996 |title=TWA 747 explodes off Long Island |work=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9607/17/li.plane/index.11p.html |access-date=January 11, 2010 |archive-date=November 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128124208/http://www.cnn.com/US/9607/17/li.plane/index.11p.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYT 19Jul96">{{cite news |last1=Malkin |first1=Lawrence |last2=Knowlton |first2=Brian |date=July 19, 1996 |title=No Survivors Among 228 In N.Y. Jetliner Explosion |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/19/news/19iht-plane.t_4.html |access-date=January 11, 2010 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530235936/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/19/news/19iht-plane.t_4.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Newsweek 29Jul96">{{cite news |first=Evan |last=Thomas |title=Death On Flight 800 |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/108213 |newspaper=Newsweek Magazine |date=July 29, 1996 |access-date=January 11, 2010 |archive-date=March 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306210007/https://www.newsweek.com/death-flight-800-179584 |url-status=live}}</ref> As the NTSB does not investigate criminal activity, the [[United States Attorney General]] is empowered to declare an investigation to be potentially linked to a criminal act and to require the NTSB to relinquish control of the investigation to the FBI.<ref name="Cornell1131">{{cite web |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/1131 |title=49 USC 1131(a)(2)(B) |access-date=February 21, 2020 |archive-date=February 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221031511/https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/1131 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the case of TWA 800, the FBI initiated a parallel criminal investigation alongside the NTSB's accident investigation.<ref name="NTSB Board Meeting">{{cite web |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/events/TWA800/Transcript_8_22.htm |title=NTSB Board Meeting on TWA 800&nbsp;August&nbsp;22, 2000, Morning Session |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060113165122/https://www.ntsb.gov/events/TWA800/Transcript_8_22.htm |archive-date=2006-01-13 |access-date=February 11, 2010}}</ref>

===Search-and-recovery operations===
[[Underwater search and recovery|Search-and-recovery]] operations were conducted by federal, state, and local agencies, as well as by government contractors.<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|363–365}} Personnel in an [[Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk|HH-60 Pave Hawk]] helicopter of the [[New York Air National Guard]] witnessed the explosion from about {{convert|8|mile|km|spell=in}} away and arrived at the scene of the explosion while debris was still falling into the water, forcing the crew to retreat. They reported their sighting to the tower at [[Francis S. Gabreski Airport|Suffolk County Airport]]. [[Remotely operated vehicle]]s (ROVs), [[side-scan sonar]] and laser line-scanning equipment were employed to search for and investigate underwater debris fields. Victims and wreckage were recovered by [[scuba diving|scuba]] divers and ROVs. Later, scallop [[fishing trawler|trawlers]] were used to recover wreckage embedded in the sea floor.<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|63}} In one of the largest diver-assisted salvage operations ever conducted, often working in very difficult and dangerous conditions, more than 95% of the airplane wreckage was eventually recovered.<ref name="NTSB Board Meeting"/><ref name="Riddle"/>{{rp|1}} The search-and-recovery effort identified three main areas of wreckage underwater, which were classified by color.<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|65}} The yellow, red, and green zones contained wreckage from the front, center, and rear sections of the airplane, respectively.<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|65–74}} The green zone with the aft portion of the aircraft was located the farthest along the flight path.<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|71–74}}

[[File:Wreckage recovery twa800.PNG|thumb|upright=1.0|Wreckage recovered with tangled and damaged wires attached<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|at=fig.24, p.80}}]]

Pieces of wreckage were transported by boat to shore and then by truck to leased hangar space at the former [[Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant, Calverton|Grumman Aircraft facility]] in [[Calverton, New York]] for storage, examination, and reconstruction.<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|63}} The facility became the command center and headquarters for the investigation.<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|363–365}} NTSB and FBI personnel were present to observe all transfers to preserve the evidentiary value of the wreckage.<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|367}} The [[cockpit voice recorder]] and [[flight data recorder]] were recovered by U.S. Navy divers one week after the accident, and the machines were immediately shipped to the NTSB laboratory in Washington, D.C. for analysis.<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|58}} The victims' remains were transported to the [[Suffolk County, New York|Suffolk County]] [[Medical Examiner]]'s office in [[Hauppauge, New York]].<ref name="Forensic Report">{{cite journal |title=Medical/Forensic Group Factual Report |url=https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40058845&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Medical%2FForensic%2019%20-%20Exhibit%20No.%2019A%20-%20Group%20Chairman%27s%20Factual%20Report-Master.PDF |journal=Docket No. SA-516, Exhibit 19A |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |access-date=January 11, 2010 |archive-date=July 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723174307/https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40058845&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Medical%2FForensic%2019%20-%20Exhibit%20No.%2019A%20-%20Group%20Chairman%27s%20Factual%20Report-Master.PDF |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|2}}

===Tensions in the investigation===
Relatives of TWA 800 passengers and crew, as well as the media, gathered at the [[Ramada Plaza JFK Hotel]].<ref name="Newsweek 5Aug96">{{cite magazine |first=John |last=Leland |author-link=John Leland (journalist) |title=Grieving At Ground Zero |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/102546 |magazine=Newsweek Magazine |date=August 5, 1996 |access-date=January 14, 2010 |archive-date=March 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306210112/https://www.newsweek.com/grieving-ground-zero-177360 |url-status=live}}</ref> Many waited until the remains of their family members had been recovered, identified and released.<ref name="NYT 7Aug96">{{cite news |last=Swarns |first=Rachel L. |date=August 7, 1996 |title=For Crash Victims' Families, A Painful Return to Routine |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/07/nyregion/for-crash-victims-families-a-painful-return-to-routine.html |access-date=February 26, 2010 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206153359/http://nytimes.com/1996/08/07/nyregion/for-crash-victims-families-a-painful-return-to-routine.html |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|1}}<ref name="After the Crash">{{cite journal |first=Lisa |last=Gray |title=After the Crash |url=http://www.houstonpress.com/1997-10-23/news/after-the-crash/3/ |journal=Houston Press |date=October 23, 1997 |access-date=November 4, 2012 |archive-date=July 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728175011/http://www.houstonpress.com/1997-10-23/news/after-the-crash/3/ |url-status=live}} "The Ramada Inn at JFK was "Crash Central," the gathering place for the 230 victims' families, as well as investigators, the TWA 'go team', and the media."</ref>{{rp|3–4}} This hotel became known as the "Heartbreak Hotel" for its role in hosting families of victims of several airliner crashes.<ref name="AdamsonPhilly">{{Cite news |last=Adamson |first=April |date=September 4, 1998 |title=Victims Knew Jet Was In Trouble Airport Inn Becomes Heartbreak Hotel Again |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |url=http://articles.philly.com/1998-09-04/news/25757670_1_twa-flight-twa-disaster-family-members |access-date=March 9, 2014 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234650/http://articles.philly.com/1998-09-04/news/25757670_1_twa-flight-twa-disaster-family-members |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=CNNFamiliarTrag>{{Cite news |last=Nissen |first=Beth |date=November 17, 2011 |title=Hotel Near JFK Airport is Familiar With Airline Tragedy |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0111/17/smn.21.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229183915/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0111/17/smn.21.html |archive-date=December 29, 2014 |access-date=March 9, 2014 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Chang |first1=Ying |last2=Lambiet |first2=Jose |last3=Jere |first3=Hester |date=July 20, 1996 |title=A Heartbreak Hotel for Kin They wait, Weep at JFK Ramada |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/heartbreak-hotel-kin-wait-weep-jfk-ramada-article-1.731576 |access-date=March 9, 2014 |work=[[New York Daily News]] |archive-date=March 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309053936/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/heartbreak-hotel-kin-wait-weep-jfk-ramada-article-1.731576 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Many grieving relatives became angry because of TWA's delayed confirmation of the passenger list,<ref name="Newsweek 5Aug96"/> conflicting information from agencies and officials<ref name="NYT 25Jul96" />{{rp|1}} and mistrust of the recovery operation's priorities.<ref name="NYT 30Jul96">{{cite news |last=Purdy |first=Matthew |date=July 30, 1996 |title=Airliner Bombings Are Reviewed For Similarities to T.W.A. Crash |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/30/nyregion/fate-flight-800-overview-airliner-bombings-are-reviewed-for-similarities-twa.html |access-date=March 3, 2010 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226120447/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/30/nyregion/fate-flight-800-overview-airliner-bombings-are-reviewed-for-similarities-twa.html |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|2}} Although NTSB vice chairman Robert Francis stated that all bodies were retrieved as soon as they were spotted and that wreckage was recovered only if divers believed that victims were hidden underneath,<ref name="NYT 30Jul96"/>{{rp|2}} many families were suspicious that investigators were not truthful or were withholding information.<ref name="NYT 30Jul96"/>{{rp|2}}<ref name="NYT 23Aug96">{{cite news |last=Sexton |first=Joe |date=August 23, 1996 |title=Behind a Calm Facade, Chaos, Distrust, Valor |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/23/nyregion/behind-a-calm-facade-chaos-distrust-valor.html?scp=2&sq=twa%20800%20recovery%20victims&st=nyt |access-date=March 3, 2010 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308093720/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/23/nyregion/behind-a-calm-facade-chaos-distrust-valor.html?scp=2&sq=twa%20800%20recovery%20victims&st=nyt |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|7}}<ref name="NYT 25Jul96">{{cite news |last=Van Natter |first=Don Jr. |date=July 25, 1996 |title=Navy Retrieves 2 'Black Boxes' From Sea Floor |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/25/nyregion/the-fate-of-flight-800-the-overview-navy-retrieves-2-black-boxes-from-sea-floor.html |access-date=March 4, 2010 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 31, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531024133/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/25/nyregion/the-fate-of-flight-800-the-overview-navy-retrieves-2-black-boxes-from-sea-floor.html |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|1–2}}

Anger and political pressure were also directed at Suffolk County medical examiner Charles V. Wetli as recovered bodies backlogged at the morgue.<ref name="Riddle">{{cite magazine |first=Evan |last=Thomas |title=Riddle Of The Depths |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/102545/page/3 |magazine=Newsweek Magazine |date=August 5, 1996 |access-date=March 4, 2010}}</ref>{{rp|3}}<ref name="NYT 23Aug96"/>{{rp|5}}<ref name="NYT 25Jul96"/>{{rp|1–2}} Under constant pressure to identify victims with minimal delay,<ref name="Forensic Report"/>{{rp|3}} pathologists worked long hours. While some victims' bodies were generally intact, most others were burned, fragmented, skeletonized, or decaying, necessitating identification using [[DNA]] testing and dental records.<ref name="NYT 23Aug96"/>{{rp|5}} As the primary objective was to identify all remains rather than to perform detailed forensic autopsies, the thoroughness of the examinations was highly variable.<ref name="Forensic Report"/>{{rp|3}} Ultimately, the remains of all 230 victims were recovered and identified, and the final victim identification occurred more than 10 months after the crash.<ref name="Forensic Report"/>{{rp|2}}

With lines of authority unclear, differences in agendas and culture between the FBI and NTSB resulted in discord.<ref name="NYT 23Aug96"/>{{rp|1}} The FBI, assuming that a criminal act had occurred,<ref name="NYT 23Aug96"/>{{rp|3}} saw the NTSB as indecisive. Expressing frustration at the NTSB's unwillingness to speculate on a cause, one FBI agent described the NTSB as "No opinions. No nothing."<ref name="NYT 23Aug96"/>{{rp|4}} Meanwhile, the NTSB was required to refute or minimize speculation about conclusions and evidence, frequently supplied to reporters by law-enforcement officials and politicians.<ref name="Riddle"/>{{rp|3}}<ref name="NYT 23Aug96"/>{{rp|4}} The [[International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers]], an invited party to the NTSB investigation, criticized the undocumented removal by FBI agents of wreckage from the hangar where it was stored.<ref name="iamaw report">{{Cite web |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/events/TWA800/exhibits/IAMAW_submission.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930042121/https://www.ntsb.gov/events/TWA800/exhibits/IAMAW_submission.pdf |url-status=dead |title=Submission of IAMAW |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |website=www.ntsb.gov}}</ref>

===Witness interviews===
[[File:Twa 800 witness 319.PNG|right|thumb|An FBI witness statement summary (with personal information redacted)<ref name="Witness Appendix E"/>{{rp|41}}]]
Although considerable discrepancies existed among the many witness accounts, most had seen a "streak of light," described by 38 of 258 witnesses as ascending,<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|232}} moving to a point where a large fireball appeared. Several witnesses reported that the fireball divided into two parts as it descended toward the water.<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|3}} Intense public interest arose regarding the witness reports, as did much speculation that the reported streak of light was a missile that had struck TWA 800, causing the airplane to explode.<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|262}} These witness accounts were a major reason for the initiation and duration of the FBI's criminal investigation.<ref name="Witness Report">{{cite journal |title=Witness Group Chairman's Factual Report |url=https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40058352&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Witnesses%204%20-%20Group%20Chairman%20Factual%20Report-Master.PDF |journal=Docket No. ?, Exhibit 4-A |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |access-date=January 12, 2010 |archive-date=July 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723174522/https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40058352&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Witnesses%204%20-%20Group%20Chairman%20Factual%20Report-Master.PDF |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|5}}

Approximately 80 FBI agents conducted interviews with potential witnesses daily.<ref name="Witness Report"/>{{rp|7}} No verbatim records of the witness interviews were produced; instead, the agents who conducted the interviews wrote summaries that they then submitted.<ref name="Witness Report"/>{{rp|5}} Witnesses were not asked to review or correct the summaries.<ref name="Witness Report"/>{{rp|5}} Included in some of the witness summaries were drawings or diagrams of what the witnesses had observed.<ref name="Witness Appendix E">{{cite journal |title=Documents Pertaining to Witnesses 300-399 |url=https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40058360&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Witnesses%204%20-%20Group%20Chairman%20Factual%20Report%20-%20Appendix%20E%20-%20Documents%20pertaining%20to%20Witnesses%20300-399-Master.PDF |journal=Docket No. SA-516, Appendix E |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |access-date=March 4, 2010 |archive-date=July 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723174353/https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40058360&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Witnesses%204%20-%20Group%20Chairman%20Factual%20Report%20-%20Appendix%20E%20-%20Documents%20pertaining%20to%20Witnesses%20300-399-Master.PDF |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|165}}<ref name="Witness Appendix B">{{cite journal |author= |title=Documents Pertaining to Witnesses 1-99 |url=https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40058357&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Witnesses%204%20-%20Group%20Chairman%20Factual%20Report%20-%20Appendix%20B%20-%20Documents%20pertaining%20to%20Witnesses%201-99%20%20-Master.PDF |journal=Docket No. SA-516, Appendix B |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |access-date=March 4, 2010 |archive-date=July 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723175457/https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40058357&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Witnesses%204%20-%20Group%20Chairman%20Factual%20Report%20-%20Appendix%20B%20-%20Documents%20pertaining%20to%20Witnesses%201-99%20%20-Master.PDF |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|184}}

Within days of the crash, the NTSB announced its intent to form its own witness group and to interview witnesses to the crash.<ref name="Witness Report"/>{{rp|6}} After the FBI raised concerns about nongovernmental parties in the NTSB's investigation having access to this information and possible prosecutorial difficulties resulting from multiple interviews of the same witnesses,<ref name="Witness Report"/>{{rp|6}} the NTSB deferred and did not interview witnesses. A safety board investigator later reviewed FBI interview notes and briefed other board investigators on their contents. In November 1996, the FBI agreed to allow the NTSB access to summaries of witness accounts in which personally identifying information had been redacted and to conduct a limited number of witness interviews. In April 1998, the FBI provided the NTSB with the identities of the witnesses, but because of the time that had elapsed, a decision was made to rely on the original FBI documents rather than on reinterviewed witnesses.<ref name="Final Report"/>{{rp|229}}