Editing TWA Flight 800 (section)

===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>