Warning Areas
Warning Areas
- Investigation shows existence of Aviation Warning Area, but No
Nautical Warning Area. In fact, there is a major shipping
channel directly under the W-105 warning area. This undermines
the friendly fire theory, which hypothesizes that ships entering
this area prove there was a Navy exercise progress.
Warning
Areas: Definition from the FAA & Statement by CDR.
Donaldson - Much has been made about the existence or nonexistence
of Navy ships in the vicinity of TWA Flight 800 at the time of the
crash. The proximity of the crash to FAA Warning Area W-105
has led some to believe that the crash was the result of a Navy
exercise gone bad. The Navy has denied that any of its ships
were in the area. Others point to the radar data and claim it
is evidence of a "fleet" entering W-105. W-105 and
W106 are FAA Warning Areas only. These
areas do not show up on nautical charts and a check with the US
Coast Guard confirms that there are no military warning areas
anywhere off the south coast of Long Island. Further
reviews of "Notices
to Mariners" confirm that there were no maritime exercises
scheduled in the immediate vicinity of W-105 & W-106 in the
month of July, 1996. These same Notice to Mariners show
scheduled firing exercises off the coast of MASS, but nowhere near
Long Island. It is clear from this review that W-105 and W-106
are Aviation Warning Areas only, so any implication that radar
showing ships entering the area proves they were Navy ships, is
clearly inappropriate. CDR. Donaldson believes that the radar
data could just as easily show commercial and sport fishermen out
fishing and nothing more. You decide. 1-25-01
Nautical
Chart of Crash Area 1-20-01
Aeronautical
Chart of Crash Area 1-20-01
Chart Showing
Location of Military Exercise Area on 7-17-96 - 1-25-01
Updated Plot
of Crash Site with Radar Overlay - (jpg
version) Shows boats &
aircraft in the vicinity of the crash. Plots are from 11
minutes before the explosion until 14 minutes after the
explosion. The data comes from raw NTSB radar data originally
released under FOIA and now publicly available on NTSB CD dated
August 2000
