Last summer I made a few references about a possible documentary about TWA 841. I had been contacted by an associate producer for a well-known National Geographic television series. I did a brief Skype interview. I forwarded a copy of Scapegoat to the producer. He told me to not announce anything officially because he was still waiting to hear whether or not the documentary was going to get greenlit.
So, I sat on the news. After my interview, there was complete radio silence. I didn’t hear from the producer again. I assumed that perhaps the subject was too controversial and the story was shot down by higher-ups. I found out today the reason for the silence. The TWA 841 documentary was indeed made. Unfortunately, they chose to tell the NTSB story and never mentioned anything about the problems with the NTSB theory, nor did they provide any of the facts that better fit the evidence. In short, they blamed Hoot, Scott, and Gary.
I was able to view the complete video on a site that deals with pirated content. I am not sanctioning websites that allow pirated content. I am not promoting such content. It’s almost certain that the links I provide will be taken down any day. But if you are so inclined and the video is still available, you can view it here Terror Over Michigan.
Well now that my father has gone on to higher ground it seems the NTSB can just run “There Version” of the story. I will be one who will agree with Mark Moscicki in his “Never Knowing” for sure what happened. Thank you Emilio for your continuing to back the crew of TWA 841.
Thanks Emilio for that interesting NEWs update (dated Jan’ 11th 2022).
First a request to any the reader here:
Here we are again, coming up to another APRIL 4th.
April 4th Glorify NTSB
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HBXGkjKyYAIT8_HJXrOLtz2rODfBxvUz/view
write to your USA’s investigative-authority :
via email to [email protected]
===> Retract NTSB AAR-81-8
From Emilio’s NEWs update
“. . . to view the complete video … if you are so inclined
… view it here [a hyperlink]. . . .”
I sat here at breakfast, and so far watched the first eleven-minutes of that Nat’l Geographic video — with interviews from at least two former NTSB investigators.
At least so far (11-minutes), their comments — about the INITIAL upset — seemed more or less accurate.
My insight comes from my B-727 time at TWA, and my time employed at Boeing Flight Test — observing both company’s employees, during the NTSB-investigation, from Apr’79, until their _second_ Board Meeting on that case in June’81 :
then the LONGEST and MOST EXPENSIVE ntsb investigation in ntsb history.
In 1979 & now, Seattle engineers all felt a sense of certainty about the INITIAL upset of Boeing 727 N840TW — Boeing’s engineers were CONVINCED that “the Boeing Scenario” was somehow true; and Boeing engineers also presumed that all TWA pilots had routinely Extended FLAPS at CRZ. There was no persuading any Boeing engineer.
Left unsaid : those TWA mythap-Pilots were perjurers,
those 3- pilots who would never admit to what they had done that night at 39,000 feet.
In 1979 at TWA none of us had ever heard about use of TE-Flaps at CRZ FL390, nor ever considered it.
THE INVESTIGATION : Yorke got it correct, in our industry we follow rules for any investigation –
study the “wreckage” damage (N840TW parked at DTW);
map the Trail of Debris (a mile-long trail of aircraft parts NE-SW);
gather the data from the FDR (ALT, KIAS, HDG, G’s, Recorder Time)
This historic method is detailed in the investigator’s handbook from the mid-1970’s. Think back to geometry class, and Trig’ class –> Yorke followed that method, and determined that the #7 Slat, found among the Trail of Debris, remained INSTEAD securely nested in the RETRACTED position until late in the dive, until after the MLG was Extended — and that finding contradicted “the Boeing Scenario” – never happened.
Mishap documents : http://photos.failure-interactions.com
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