NTSB Will Not Revisit Findings In Crash Of TWA Flight 800

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The National Transportation Safety Board has denied a petition for reconsideration of its findings in the investigation of the 1996 crash of TWA flight 800.

The Boeing 747 departed John F. Kennedey International Airport for Paris when it exploded 12 minutes into its flight on July 17, 1996. All 230 passengers and crew were killed.

The board said Wednesday that a team of investigators not part of the original investigation has confirmed NTSB's previous finding that an oxygen buildup in a partially empty fuel tank caused an explosion that destroyed the plane in-flight off the coast of Long Island.

The TWA 800 Project filed the petition. It said a "detonation or high-velocity explosion'' could have caused the crash. Among other evidence, the group cites witnesses who claim they saw a streak of light that appeared to be a missile.

But the NTSB said none of the physical evidence supports the missile theory.

Tom Stalcup, the TWA 800 Project's science adviser, said they're not giving up their fight.

"Certainly they made a big mistake, they repeated the same inaccuracies from the original investigation," Stalcup told 1010 WINS. "It's just going to take Congress to step in or some other action and hopefully something like that will happen and the NTSB will finally be held accountable."

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