http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a9158/3-reasons-to-doubt-the-twa-flight-800-conspiracy-theory-15629315/
Fuel/air explosions (accidental ones) are very rare...but quite possible...even grain storage explosions are a variant, and they happen regularly. If you ride a commercial airliner today, you are apparently part of the hoax...because the airline is pumping an inert gas into the fuel tank as it empties...precisely to prevent another accidental fuel air explosion.
I don't know why its so far fetched to suppose that a bunch of fuel mixed with a bunch of air could be an explosive combination...I drive to work every day using that theory.
“I don’t know why its so far fetched to suppose that a bunch of fuel mixed with a bunch of air could be an explosive combination”
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I don’t have a dog in this particular fight, but it doesn’t seem unreasonable that some people don’t accept the explanation. There was Pan Am Flight 103 about 6 years before and, even half a year after TWA 180, there was this:
“Six months into the most costly plane crash investigation ever, there are still more questions than answers about the deadly mid-air explosion of TWA Flight 800.
“All three theories — a bomb, a missile or mechanical failure — remain,” Jim Hall, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said Thursday.”
http://www.cnn.com/US/9701/17/twa/index.html
Well then you're an idiot.
Popular Mechanics would seem to be your Scientific Journal of choice, and for good reason. Jet Fuel (kerosene, really) will not ignite under normal pressure conditions. Get yourself some. Shake it up to try to get some vapors, and throw a match in. Not much will happen.
Then try the same thing with gasoline, and FR will be the better for it. (And it would also be dangerous to do this with grain.)
ML/NJ