Filmmaker asserts new evidence on crash of TWA Flight 800

(CNN) A documentary on the 1996 explosion that brought down TWA Flight 800 offers solid proof that there was an external detonation its co producer said Wednesday.

Of course everyone knows about the eyewitness statements but we also have corroborating information from the radar data and the radar data shows a(n) asymmetric explosion coming out of that plane something that didn't happen in the official theory Tom Stalcup told CNN's New Day.

All 230 people aboard TWA 800 died when the plane headed for Paris exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Scores of witnesses observed a streak of light and a fireball giving early rise to suspicions that the terrorists had struck the plane with a rocket.

Investigators concluded the streak was likely burning fuel streaming from the plane's wing tank.

The National Transportation Safety Board ruled that the explosion was caused by an electrical short circuit most likely originating in a fuel gauge line which found its way into the center wing fuel tank where it detonated fuel vapors and caused the B 747 to fall in pieces into the waters off Long Island.

But a number of people have come forward all saying the same thing that there was an external force not from the center wing tank there's no evidence of that but there is evidence of an external explosion that brought down that plane Stalcup said.

He cited corroborating information from the radar data and complained that not one single eyewitness was allowed to testify that's unheard of.

The family members need to know what happened to their loved ones he said.

Asked why such information might have been suppressed Stalcup said That's a question that should be answered when this investigation gets reopened.

A section of the wing of TWA Flight 800 which crashed July 17 1996 floats in the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island New York on July 18 1996. A new documentary TWA Flight 800 claims that the explosion that caused the crash was not an accident. A member of the U.S. Coast Guard pulls a piece of wreckage from the waters on July 18 1996. Ron Dwyer pauses to compose himself on July 20 1996 as he speaks about his 11 year old daughter Larkyn Lyn Dwyer who was on TWA Flight 800. A warning sign on the dunes alerts beach goers to watch for debris washed ashore at Smith's Point Long Island New York on July 25 1996. A police officer stands guard as part of the plane is transported from a dock in Brooklyn New York on July 19 1996. Wreckage of the front portion of the Boeing 747 aircraft is displayed in its reconstructed state on November 19 1997 in Calverton Long Island New York. Parts of the aircraft's wing sit in the hangar on July 8 1999 in Calverton New York. The partially reconstructed fuselage of TWA Flight 800 is pulled out of a hangar in Calverton New York on September 14 1999. Antonella Naglieri whose relatives Giuseppe Mercurio and Anna D'Alessandro were killed in the crash places a rose in the surf after a memorial service at Smith Point Park in Shirley New York on July 17 2001. Joanne Festa touches the memorial wall commemorating the victims of TWA Flight 800 on July 16 2006 at the Smith Point County Park in Shirley New York. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Photos TWA Flight 800 'TWA Flight 800' doc presents new proof

The NTSB acknowledged receipt Wednesday of the filmmakers' petition signed by a number of former investigators requesting that the investigation be reopened.

As required by NTSB regulation a petition for reconsideration of Board findings or a probable cause determination must be based on the discovery of NEW evidence or on a showing that the Board's findings are erroneous said board spokeswoman Kelly Nantel.

What really happened

We assign petition responses to the relevant modal office for drafting. The NTSB's Office of Aviation Safety will assign staff to the maximum extent practicable who did not work on the original investigation to carefully prepare a response. The response will be presented to the full Board for their consideration and vote.

The board's investigation of TWA 800 lasted four years and remains one of the NTSB's most extensive investigations Nantel said.

Investigators spent an enormous amount of time reviewing documenting and analyzing facts and data and held a five day public hearing to gather additional facts before determining the probable cause of the accident she said.

But she left open the possibility the case will be reopened.

While the NTSB rarely re investigates issues that have already been examined our investigations are never closed and we can review any new information not previously considered by board she said.

John Goglia a member of the five person NTSB during the investigation said he took offense at the filmmakers' suggestion that board members ignored evidence. I would never be part of any cover up period he told CNN.

This accident this report over 50 000 pages if you take and just look at certain pieces of it you can move the cause of this accident any way you want. You can take just the radar you can say it was a missile. You have to take all of the pieces and look at them as a whole.

The sequencing report that told how the airplane fell apart none of it supports a missile none of it. When you look at the physical evidence inside the tank it's clear that there was an explosion inside the tank. If the top of the tank goes up and the bottom of the tank goes down and the forward side goes forward and the back of the tank goes back that tells you that the blast was inside the tank not outside.

He added that no holes in the tank were found that would indicate something penetrated it.

But the documentary asserts that a missile may have exploded adjacent to the plane.

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Skeptics have long theorized that TWA Flight 800 was brought down by sinister forces.

They include Hank Hughes who served as a senior accident investigator with the NTSB and helped reconstruct the aircraft. Others include Bob Young a TWA investigator who participated in the investigation and Jim Speer an accident investigator for the Airline Pilots Association.

These investigators were not allowed to speak to the public or refute any comments made by their superiors and/or NTSB and FBI officials about their work at the time of the official investigation a news release announcing the documentary said.

They waited until after retirement to reveal how the official conclusion by the (NTSB) was falsified and lay out their case.

The documentary TWA Flight 800 will premiere July 17 the 17th anniversary of the crash.

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Stalcup is co founder of the Flight 800 Independent Researchers Organization and has been a longtime and passionate critic of the official investigation.

Suspicions that criminals or terrorists were behind the TWA 800 explosion are not new. The FBI conducted a parallel investigation but concluded that the incident was not a crime or terrorist attack.

The NTSB said Tuesday that it was aware of the pending release of the documentary which will air on EPIX TV network and of the producers' intent to file a petition to reopen the investigation.

The documentarians said they have a trifecta of elements that will prove that the officially proposed fuel air explosion did not cause the crash. That trifecta includes forensic evidence firsthand sources and corroborating witnesses and the new statements from retired investigators.

The evidence proves that one or more ordnance explosions outside the aircraft caused the crash the producers said. But it does not identify or speculate on the source of the ordnance explosions.

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