The 747 fleet was not grounded for any real amount time to correct a bogus problem if the center fuel tank theory was actually real and the fuel tanks were not inspected on all planes along with the pumps, not one CFR by the FAA was used to correct any problem in 747's.
Not a single 747 or any other Boeing aircraft for that matter has had a fuel tank exploxsion on the ground or in the air since TWA800.
I know aircraft maintenance personnel for airlines that questioned the 747 fuel tank story from day one.
I have spoken to a few 747 pilots that have hinted about being told to shut up and not speak on the issues from fear of trouble from above.
The silence is so deafening from above in the government, FAA, Airline Industry bailed out by government subsidies, and media that it is obvious nobody wants the truth to be told.
Discussion about Iranian payback for the Airliner shot down over the gulf a few years earlier by U.S. Navy worships is ignored.
Evidence and clear eyewitness by military personal airborne and on the ground at the time of a missile track as well as another airline pilot viewing the track are suppressed.
The NTSB and CIA story so full of sh*t it is a joke to any engineer.
Than there are all the conspiracy pundit police who shoot down anyone who knows anything about the aviation industry and places them in the nut category as they shame knowledgeable people into silence.
There is no doubt the government simply kills this story by ignoring it and wants it dead and to go away because TWA was shot down and the government knows why and can't let it be known for some troubling reasons.
If friends, coworkers, or family of mine were on that flight I would not let it alone either.
Not a single DC-10 has crashed due to a failure of their cargo hatch since the one that brought down Turkish Airlines Flight 981. Not a single DC-10 has crashed due to an engine coming off when a bolt failured since American Airlines Flight 191. Not a single 767 has been torn apart in mid-air by an unexpected deployment of the reverse thrusters since Lauda Air Flight 004. Not a single Airbus A310 has crashed ebcause a throttle jamed in the take-off position since Tarom Flight 371. Not a single...well, you get the idea.
There's also a silence about an impending invasion by Martians, but that doesn't mean "they don't want the truth to be told".