Crash of the Flight TWA 800 - Essay Example

Abstract ``Perception ``is not only an intriguing factor in psychology texts, but have also been proved to play an very important role in judging certain crucial events from time to time. One such incidence is the crash of the flight TWA 800.Still now the exact reason for the flights crash is not known clearly but the wide range of perception by the public is astonishing. In this literature I have tried first briefly explain about the perception ,then the background of the incidence, the proposed factors that have been suggested to be the reason for the crash, then the witnesses exact statements and the perception and memory factor that goes beyond it. Perception and overview The Perception can be explained as a process by which organisms interpret and organize sensation to produce a meaningful experience of the existing world. The term sensation refers to the immediate, relatively unprocessed result of stimulation that is obtained through the sensory receptors in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, or skin, perception, that would better describes one's ultimate experience of the world. But perception here stands as part that typically involves further processing of sensory input. In practice, in psychology, sensation and perception are virtually impossible to separate, as they are part of the one continuous long process. Thus it can be said as process of translation of sensory stimulation into organized experience in human is perception. Thus it can be understood that the experience, or percept, is the joint product of the stimulation and of the process itself. Since the perceptual process is not an public entity, or directly observable factor, (except to the perceiver himself, whose percepts directly gives him the experience), the validity of perceptual theories can be checked only indirectly. When perception being dealt as a scientific enterprise, the investigation of perception has now developed as part of the larger discipline of psychology. Much ado of interest here is the degree of correspondence between percepts and the physical objects to which they ordinarily relate. For example, can any one tell that the visually perceived size of an object match its physical size as measured (eg, with a yardstick)? It is an question to be pondered upon. (Peter Lindsay & Donald A. Norman,1977) (1) TWA flight 800 The TWA 800 crash and the facts This incidence occurred exactly on July 17, 1996, about 2031 eastern daylight time. The Trans World Airlines, Inc. (TWA) flight 800, a Boeing 747-131, N93119, crashed in mid of the Atlantic Ocean in New York, near East Moriches. The TWA flight 800 as like any other day as per schedule was operating as an international passenger flight from John F.Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York to the Charles DeGaulle International Airport, Paris, France. On the D-day the flight departed from JFK at about 2019, with 2 pilots, 2 flight engineers, 14 flight attendants, and 212 passengers on board. None was spared on the fateful day with all the 230 people on board being killed, with the airplane being destroyed. The National Transportation Safety Board which commissioned an enquiry after the incident suggested that an probable cause of the TWA flight 800 accident could be an explosion of the center wing fuel tank (CWT) that could have resulted from the ignition of the flammable fuel/air mixture in the tank. Still now the source of ignition energy for the explosion could not be ascertained with certainty. (National Transportation Safetyboard Washington, D.C.Aircraft accident report ) (2) Intensive investigations were then heralded up by The Boeing Company, which then got transferred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and an separate investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Trans World Airlines (TWA) and others in the year that followed failed to provide a convincing explanation for this. (Lloyd L. Mielke, 2000) (3) The proposed cause of the In-Flight Breakup On the basis of the breakup sequence observed, wreckage damage's characteristics, scientific tests and research on fuels and fuel tank explosions, and the then prevailing conditions at the time of the accident, and analysis of witness information, the Safety Board concluded that the TWA flight 800 in-flight breakup was initiated by a fuel/air explosion in the Central Wing Tank and the reason that might have initiated the spark could have been, any one of the below, but still the exact point couldn't be pinned down. Lightning Strike There were no witnesses’ reports that lightning struck the accident airplane or that lightning was in the area of TWA flight 800 at the time of the accident. The recorded meteorological data indicated no atmospheric disturbances in that area of TWA flight 800 at the time of the accident. So this leaves the fact unlikely that unlikely that a lightning strike could have ignited the fuel/air vapor in the CWT region. Meteorite Strike The experts in the study of meteorites testified at the Safety Board's public hearing that no report exists of a meteorite ever having struck an airplane till date and it was only of car and dwellings that were assaulted. On research none of the holes in the CWT or fuselage structure exhibited characteristics of high-velocity penetration through the exterior (such as outward metal deformation around the perimeter of the entry and exit sides of the hole, lack of overall deformation, and distinctive features of the hole wall surface) that would be expected from a meteorite strike. Therefore, it is very unlikely that a meteorite ignited the fuel/air vapor in the CWT. (Arcadio Poveda et. al.,1999) (4) Missile or its Fragments Though, a missile-strike scenario was not supported by available physical evidence, investigators considered an option that a missile might have self destructed close enough to TWA flight 800 for a missile fragment to have entered the CWT and ignited the fuel/air vapor. Yet it was far away from the facts available from the damage features characteristic. According to missile performance data provided by the Naval Air Warfare Center weapons division (NAWCWD), the warhead from a shoulder-launched missile will self destruct about 15 seconds after launch if no target has been hit, and missile warhead fragments always dispersed in a predictable fragmentation pattern.. Two holes in the horizontal pressure deck (above the left side of the wing landing gear bay) contained some features of both high-velocity and low-velocity penetrations. However, the physical features of both holes indicated that they were made by objects traveling from inside the airplane out, rather than the reverse. Therefore, neither hole could have been made by a missile. In addition, a missile fragment would have had to penetrate multiple layers of material to enter the CWT, and, although some areas of fuselage skin and CWT structure are missing, possible straight-line entry paths were extremely limited. (Anderson, 1996) (5) Small Explosive Charge Another potential ignition source that investigators considered was the detonation of a small explosive charge that could have been placed on the CWT that would breach the fuel tank and ignite the flammable fuel/air vapor. However reports suggested that upon detonation a warhead will release about 1,000 fragments of varying sizes, up to 40 grains (equivalent to 0.0916 ounce) the features of the two holes in the horizontal pressure deck that displayed some features of high-velocity penetration indicated that they were made by objects coming from different directions, therefore, it is not likely that they originated from a common location. Auto Ignition or Hot Surface Ignition or short circuit of wiring Investigators also evaluated whether the surface of the CWT might have been heated to a high enough temperature to have caused ignition of the fuel/air vapor inside the tank as a result of auto ignition or hot surface ignition. However, a scenario in which a significant portion of the CWT volume was heated to auto ignition temperatures was not considered a credible possibility because the amount of heat that would have been necessary to raise the temperature of the entire (or at least most of the) CWT to 460A F or more would have almost certainly left significant evidence of thermal damage on the CWT .(Timo Niroma ,1997) (6) The data reports that was available from the eyewitness: Of the total witness data available, about 183 witnesses said that they saw a streak of light, and close to 201 confided that they saw one or more explosions, while 100 reported that they heard one or more explosions, and 339 confided that they saw a fireball. Out of the 183 who observed a streak of light, 102 gave information about the origin of the streak. A Six said that the streak originated from the air, and 96 said that it originated from the surface. A Of the 96 who said it originated from the surface, 40 said it originated from the sea and 10 said it originated from land. When asked to explain about the streak they saw, one hundred and twenty-eight witnesses reported that they saw an immediate end to the streak, 85 described that ended in an explosion, 32 said it finalized off as a fireball, and 11 said they saw it ending as a flash. Towards the end, CIA/NTSB theory claims that, the Eyewitnesses who saw the "aircraft in various stages of crippled flight", were reported to be untrue as The rate of climb that was reported as being seen was improbable if not to be precise was impossible. The fall time of flight calculated as per witness report would have taken too long - the aircraft disappeared from radar too soon on technical analysis. The zoom climb as per witness data calculation should have significantly slowed the aircraft but as fact it did not. This leaves us to come to the statement, as the perspective of most eyewitnesses would have minimized the perception of the aircraft streaking. So! Now arises the question that if the eyewitnesses did not see the aircraft climbing and burning, what did they see actually??? Now it should be accepted that the eyewitnesses have a right to be heard. (http://www.twa800.com/pages/radaranalysis.htm) (7) Issues Associated with Witness Perception and Memory The valid point that can explain the fact is that, from some witnesses locations focus, the burning airplane might have appeared to be rising vertically. Specifically, some witnesses who were standing on the Long Island looking to the southwest would have been in a position to see the airplane coming nearly directly toward them, which could have resulted in the appearance of a rising(perhaps even near-vertical to some witnesses) flightpath for a portion of the time that the airplane was in crippled flight. Because of the angle at which these witnesses were positioned, any fire coming from the CWT could have appeared to them as a streak of light moving vertically. The point to be noted is that witnesses observing the accident from Long Island would have been viewing it against a featureless background and, therefore, would have had few, if any, depth perception cues. Consequently, because of the tendency to perceive more distant objects as being about the same distance away as intervening objects (the equidistance tendency), the streak of light could have appeared closer to them than it actually was. This phenomenon possibly explains why the witness on the Beach Lane Bridge stated that the streak of light came into his view just above the roof of a house and why he reported that it appeared to have originated on the beach just beyond that house. For some observers, the equidistance tendency would have caused the streak of light to appear lower further; the motion of the observer's head will cause the observer to perceive the object moving concurrently with the observer's head. If an observer views an object for which few or no depth perception cues are available, At the time of the reported observations, 13 of the 38 witnesses who reported that the streak of light ascended vertically or nearly so were in vehicles (including boats) and one of the witnesses was paddling a surfboard. Other witnesses may also have been moving. The effect of the concurrent motion of the observer's head and the observed object would have caused the streak of light to appear to have been moving differently than it was actually moving, and this effect could have caused the streak of light to have appeared to rise vertically or nearly so. The closer that the streak of light appeared to a given witness, the greater the apparent motion of the streak of light to that witness. Further, the airplane's relatively low elevation above the horizon could have led many witnesses to believe that they were observing a flare or fireworks. (As discussed previously, because of the absence of depth perception cues, witnesses who saw the airplane in crippled flight could not be expected to provide good information about how far away it was or its direction of travel.) Perception of events is driven by context cues, experience, and expectations. Memory researchers have always shown that the concept of memory of an person leads to the alteration due to post event effect that have been provided by other witnesses or media reports or because of expectations and beliefs. Some witnesses. recollections might have been influenced by exposure to other witnesses. Accounts as being interviewed together. engaging in conversations with other people. Or hearing, watching, or reading media accounts of the crash (which included interviews with eyewitnesses and speculation about a missile strike. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the documents recording the initial interviews of some witnesses did not indicate that these witnesses initially reported seeing a missile. However, these same witnesses have since indicated that they believe that a missile was used against TWA flight 800. Research has also shown that a witness's confidence in the accuracy of his or her memory (even when it is inaccurate) increases over time and with repeated retrieval, which possibly explains why some witnesses displayed a high level of confidence in the accuracy of their reported observations. Conclusion Regarding Reported Witness Observations Given the potential deficiencies in the witness documents, the potential inaccuracies in witnesses recollections, and the large number of witnesses whose observations were documented and studied in this case, the Safety Board did not expect all of the documented witness observations to be consistent with one another. Therefore, it is illustrated by the variation in the witness accounts regarding the direction of the motion of the streak of light (38 reported that it moved vertically. 45 reported that it moved to the east. 23 reported that it moved to the west. 18 reported that it moved to the south. And 4 reported that it moved to the north. Thirty-six of the streak-of-light accounts contained no information about the direction of the motion of the streak of light). Although flares were launched after the accident sequence (and, therefore, would have appeared after the fireball), witnesses who also reported seeing a fireball may have recalled seeing the streak of light (flare) before the fireball because their memories of the accident sequence were influenced by post event information provided by media reports or other witnesses or by other factors. ``Every man feels that perception gives him an invincible belief of the existence of that which he perceives. And that this belief is not the effect of reasoning, but the immediate consequence of perception. When philosophers have wearied themselves and their readers with their speculations upon this subject, they can neither strengthen this belief, nor weaken it. Nor can they show how it is produced. It puts the philosopher and the peasant upon a level. And neither of them can give any other reason for believing his senses, than that he finds it impossible for him to do otherwise''. - Thomas Reid. (8) This holds true in this issue. Though the technical analysis and reports say that the crash of TWA was not caused by an missile nor meteor, publics perception about the incidence created an uproar for the latter years showing the depth and the importance of the perception. Bibliography 1. Peter Lindsay & Donald A. Norman , 1977. Human Information Processing: An Introduction to Psychology. (pg no 2) NATIONALTRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARDWASHINGTON, D.C. 20594 AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT ,In-flight Breakup Over the Atlantic Ocean Trans World Airlines Flight 800Boeing 747-131, N93119Near East Moriches, New York. July 17, 1996 6788G. (3) Lloyd L. Mielke A(c)2000,www.icstars.com/Flight800/TWAflt800Long.html (3) Arcadio Poveda et. al., 1999. In the PLANETARY AND SPACE SCIENCE Vol.47, No.5 pp 715-719 Dr. Institute of Astronomy, University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico did a paper entitled. ``Collision Frequency of small meteorites with cars & aircraft. (4) Anderson, L. (1996, November 9). U.S. denies report TWA jet was downed by Navy missile. Chicago Tribune , Sec. 1, p. 3. (5) Timo Niroma 1997 An analysis by Timo Niroma Item: Aviation Accident: In-Flight Breakup Over the Atlantic Ocean, TWA Flight 800 Boeing 747-131, (6) http://www.twa800.com/pages/radaranalysis.htm (7) Thomas Reid (1710-1796), Scottish leading philosopher, opponent of Hume. Essay II, ch. xv, p. 241, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. (1969). Reid's commonsense defense of belief in the external world (10) Read More

Still now the source of ignition energy for the explosion could not be ascertained with certainty. (National Transportation Safetyboard Washington, D.C.Aircraft accident report ) (2) Intensive investigations were then heralded up by The Boeing Company, which then got transferred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and an separate investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Trans World Airlines (TWA) and others in the year that followed failed to provide a convincing explanation for this. (Lloyd L. Mielke, 2000) (3) The proposed cause of the In-Flight Breakup On the basis of the breakup sequence observed, wreckage damage's characteristics, scientific tests and research on fuels and fuel tank explosions, and the then prevailing conditions at the time of the accident, and analysis of witness information, the Safety Board concluded that the TWA flight 800 in-flight breakup was initiated by a fuel/air explosion in the Central Wing Tank and the reason that might have initiated the spark could have been, any one of the below, but still the exact point couldn't be pinned down.

Lightning Strike There were no witnesses’ reports that lightning struck the accident airplane or that lightning was in the area of TWA flight 800 at the time of the accident. The recorded meteorological data indicated no atmospheric disturbances in that area of TWA flight 800 at the time of the accident. So this leaves the fact unlikely that unlikely that a lightning strike could have ignited the fuel/air vapor in the CWT region. Meteorite Strike The experts in the study of meteorites testified at the Safety Board's public hearing that no report exists of a meteorite ever having struck an airplane till date and it was only of car and dwellings that were assaulted.

On research none of the holes in the CWT or fuselage structure exhibited characteristics of high-velocity penetration through the exterior (such as outward metal deformation around the perimeter of the entry and exit sides of the hole, lack of overall deformation, and distinctive features of the hole wall surface) that would be expected from a meteorite strike. Therefore, it is very unlikely that a meteorite ignited the fuel/air vapor in the CWT. (Arcadio Poveda et. al.,1999) (4) Missile or its Fragments Though, a missile-strike scenario was not supported by available physical evidence, investigators considered an option that a missile might have self destructed close enough to TWA flight 800 for a missile fragment to have entered the CWT and ignited the fuel/air vapor.

Yet it was far away from the facts available from the damage features characteristic. According to missile performance data provided by the Naval Air Warfare Center weapons division (NAWCWD), the warhead from a shoulder-launched missile will self destruct about 15 seconds after launch if no target has been hit, and missile warhead fragments always dispersed in a predictable fragmentation pattern.. Two holes in the horizontal pressure deck (above the left side of the wing landing gear bay) contained some features of both high-velocity and low-velocity penetrations.

However, the physical features of both holes indicated that they were made by objects traveling from inside the airplane out, rather than the reverse. Therefore, neither hole could have been made by a missile. In addition, a missile fragment would have had to penetrate multiple layers of material to enter the CWT, and, although some areas of fuselage skin and CWT structure are missing, possible straight-line entry paths were extremely limited. (Anderson, 1996) (5) Small Explosive Charge Another potential ignition source that investigators considered was the detonation of a small explosive charge that could have been placed on the CWT that would breach the fuel tank and ignite the flammable fuel/air vapor.

However reports suggested that upon detonation a warhead will release about 1,000 fragments of varying sizes, up to 40 grains (equivalent to 0.

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