Tests on a similar plane showed that the center fuel tanks get MUCH hotter than expected. TWA 800 sat on the runway for an hour longer due to being a “life flight”, i.e., transporting human organs to a European hospital. On Westbound flights, the center fuel tanks aren’t filled, leading to a more dangerous amount of fumes.
Yeah, jet A is so volatile. If the tank was so hot and fumes were rising would there be any oxygen left in the tank to have an explosion with? I would think that rising fumes would vent out any oxygen in the tank. I’m not going to argue much over this. It was an obvious cover up from the get go and it was painful to watch the media comply. It is over and I hope to heck they never bring out poor James Kalstrom again.