There were 82 passengers aboard TWA 841. If anyone had an interest in finding out what had happened to TWA 841, it was them. During the course of the investigation, as Hoot and the crew came under suspicion for having caused the upset, Hoot visited with several passengers . Jeannine Rakowsky and her …
Overlooked clues
Of the many problems associated with the investigation of TWA 841, one of the biggest oversights was the failure of the investigators to explain several important clues. For example, no attempt was made to explain the importance of the yaw damper fail flag noticed by the crew after the recovery. …
Fabricating evidence
In the post Garbage in garbage out, I talk about how the NTSB made numerous mistakes in their attempts to analyze and reproduce the FDR readout from TWA 841. Misreading the FDR readout is one thing, but what do you call it when the NTSB tries to draw comparisons between FDR readouts when the …
So what really happened?
My efforts to vindicate the crew of TWA 841 through a thorough examining of the evidence would not be complete if I didn't also put forth evidence explaining the most likely cause of the upset. The book and possible documentary will lay out the facts of the case in, I hope, an impartial manner so …
Best actor in a leading role: Hoot Gibson
The documentary The Plane That Fell From The Sky was unique in that many of the passengers and crew participated in the filming. Having the actual people involved in the story participate in the recreation is rarely used. One recent film that used the technique to great effect was the documentary …
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The scene of the crime
The investigation into TWA 841 was very much like a botched criminal investigation. The chief investigator never saw the damaged airplane, nor did he ever visit the field where the parts from TWA 841 were found. Is that important? Looking at the big picture probably not, but they could have spent a …
