You wanted to know why I "...latch on to every conspiracy theory out there, especially when it comes to aircraft accidents."

Actually, the truth of the matter is that I reject a substantial part of the standard fare of the so-called conspriacy theorists. But it is certainly true that mysteries intrigue me, and among the most interesting mysteries are unsolved airliner crashes.

In this particular case, it appears the NTSB has ruled out the loss of the vertical stabilizer as the primary cause of F. 587's midair break-up and subsequent crash. I liked your excellent presentation, but I think it's a side issue for now. In my mind, the door's still open a little on thrust-reverser involvement in the crash, by failure or sabotage, but in reality, I don't think that's it.

I was just looking through some of the eyewitness accounts of the stricken jetliner. These below are among those published in an article Flight 587 Witnesses Speak Out in the Rockaway Wave, a local rag where F. 587 crashed:


"I saw a puff of white smoke come from the right side of the plane's body, just behind the right wing. Then, there was a large explosion engulfing the body of the plane from the wing back to the tail. It was then seven or eight seconds before the plane crashed into the ground."



"an orange-red explosion, about the size of a small car..."

"The cockpit of the plane was hanging off and flames were coming off the front of the plane..."

"yawing...counter-clockwise motion...fire and smoke coming from under the plane, where the right wing and the fuselage join..."

"right after the bang, I saw smoke and flames towards the rear of the aircraft. I saw lots of aircraft parts fall from the plane..."

"muffled pop in the air...fire in the fuselage, through the plane's windows and near the rear door...part of the wing and the engines came off prior to it crashing."



After reading all of this, I get the idea that there was an explosion in or on the plane near the right wing root, and I don't think vortices of any kind are going to cause that, nor are reversers.

It's already been well established that the FBI and NTSB are fully capable of ignoring eyewitness testimony in jetliner crashes. This disturbing fact naturally increases not only my skepticism but also my interest.

sp