July 19, 1996, TRACON radio transmissions, Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position, starting at 8:25 pm.
(003:25 airline time). Many unrelated aircraft transmissions deleted. (“Heavy” refers to a Boeing 747.)
08:25:34, [TWA 800] TWA's eight hundred heavy at 10,000 feet, climbing at 2,000 feet per minute.
08:26:24 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] TWA eight hundred maintain 13,000 feet only for now.
08:26:30 [TWA 800], TWA's eight hundred heavy, stop climb at 13,000 feet altitude.
08:29:47 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] Eastwind Airlines 507, descend and maintain level 20,000 feet, no delay down please.
08:30:16 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] TWA eight hundred climb and maintain 15,000 feet.
08:30:19 [TWA 800] TWA's eight hundred heavy climb and maintain 15,000 feet.
08:30:47 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] stinger bee five oh seven (Eastwind 507) descend and maintain 16,000 feet.
08:31:50 [Eastwind Airlines 507] we just saw an explosion out here.
08:31:57 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] stinger bee five oh seven i'm sorry i missed it ah you're out of eighteen did you say something else
08:32:01 [Eastwind Airlines 507] ah we just saw an explosion up ahead of us here *(somewhere's) about sixteen thousand feet or something like that it just went down - in the water
08:32:10 [Alitalia 609] alitalia six oh nine confirms just ahead of us
08:32:25 [Virgin Atlantic 009] Boston virgin zero zero nine i can confirm that out of my nine ah three my nine o'clock position we just had an exp it looked like an explosion out there about five miles away six miles away
08:32:36 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] virgin zero zero nine i'm sorry your transmissions broken up *(what'd you say)
08:32:39 [Virgin Atlantic 009] our at nine o'clock position sir it looked like an explosion of some sort about maybe six to five mi miles out from my nine o'clock position
08:32:49 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] an explosion six miles out at your nine o'clock position thank you very much sir.
08:32:56 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] TWA eight hundred center
08:33:04 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] TWA eight hundred center
08:33:09 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] TWA eight hundred if you hear center ident
08:33:17 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] stinger bee ah five zero seven you reported an explosion is that correct sir
08:33:21 [Eastwind Airlines 507] yes sir about ah five miles at my eleven o'clock here
08:33:31 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] alitalia six oh nine contact Boston now on ah one two four point five two
08:33:36 [Alitalia 609] one two four point five two and just for your information sir we are just overhead the explosion right overhead at this time now a hundred and three miles from JFK it’s about forty eight miles from *(j a p) on the one zero two radial
08:33:48 [Eastwind Airlines 507] and center for stinger bee ah five oh seven we are directly over the site with that airplane or whatever it was just exploded and went into the water
08:34:01 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] roger that thank you very much sir we're investigating that right now TWA eight hundred center TWA eight zero zero if you hear center ident
08:35:24 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] navy alfa tango four five zero new york center one three three point zero five
08:35:30 [Navy WAT450] switching one three two zero five
08:35:36 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] TWA eight hundred center
08:35:43 [UNKNOWN] i think that was him
08:35:45 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] i think so
08:35:48 [UNKNOWN] god bless him
08:36:58 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] stinger bee five oh seven thanks for that report ah new york on one three three point zero five good day sir
08:37:05 [Eastwind Airlines 507] thirty three oh five so long stinger five oh seven anything we can do for ya before we go
08:37:11 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] well i just wanna confirm that ah that you saw the ah splash in the water approximately ah twenty southwest of hampton is that right
08:37:20 [Eastwind Airlines 507] ah yes sir it just blew up in the air and then we saw two fireballs go down to the to the water and there was a big small ah smoke*(from) ah coming up from that also ah there seemed to be a light I thought it was a landing light *(eye) and it was coming right at us at about I don't know about fifteen thousand feet or something like that and I pushed on my landing lights ah you know so I saw him and then it blew
08:37:40 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] roger that sir ah that was a seven forty seven out there you had a visual on that anything else in the area when it happened
08:37:47 [Eastwind Airlines 507] i didn't see anything he seemed to be *(alone) i thought it had a landing light on maybe it was a fire i don't know
08:37:51 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] stinger bee five oh seven ah roger that and anything else comes to your mind ah you can use your other radio come back to this frequency and tell me about it
08:37:58 [Eastwind Airlines 507] that's all i can think of at this time
08:38:08 [United Airlines 2] one two four five two and is that airplane right in front of us now
08:38:12 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] ah he should be right underneath you they reported the splashdown right underneath you about ah twelve and ah four miles
08:38:18 [United Airlines 2] its still burning down there
08:38:20 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] in the water
08:38:21 [United Airlines 2] well there's ah there's bright red and there's there's smoke coming up
08:38:25 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] i'm sorry say that again gimme that report again
08:38:28 [United Airlines 2] there's fire with smoke
08:38:30 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] fire with smoke coming out of water
08:38:32 [United Airlines 2] right at our position right now I can give you a latitude and longitude if you want
08:8:35 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] absolutely thank you
08:38:44 [United Airlines 2] its ah north forty thirty nine point one west zero seven two three eight point zero
08:38:51 [Boston ARTCC Sardi Sector, Radar Position] alright we got forty thirty nine point one west zero seven two three eight point zero
08:38:56 [United Airlines 2] that's correct
Note: Pilots of Eastwind 507 were said to not have been formally interviewed by the FBI for nearly 2 ½ years.
These TRACON transmissions are the voices of professional airline pilots who saw 230 others, pilots, crews and passengers die in the Atlantic. They can tell a great deal to those who will listen.
Eastwind 507 pilot reported a light or fire on the oncoming 747 that was Flight 800, then an explosion. This was seen and reported by many other pilots. It was daylight, in clear air. All pilots were at least twice as close to the event as any landlubber on Long Island shores. NO pilot reported seeing any smoke trail or any missile PRIOR to the report of an explosion. This eliminates the missile theory and the grand conspiracy of Friendly Fire, so widely believed and repeated by many “highly qualified eye witnesses,” plus military and civilian authorities. Five missiles? NO smoke trails? Really?
PILOTS reported TWO smoke trails resulted from the explosion. One small one was what I believed to be engine #3, which dropped down along the flight path; where it was located after an extensive search. The other, larger one, was from the 747, which continued for several miles, finally ending in a crash in the main debris field.
However, the explosion of the CWT has some problems. First, if the ignition source was in the wiring, in the middle of the CWT, then both sides of the CWT would have been over-pressured. Second, which is something that has been debated for years, enclosed fuel vapors will not easily burn or explode. Oxygen is required and the CWT was venting excess fuel vapors to the outside, as pressure dropped with altitude, in an area where no damage was reported.
However, if the right side of the CWT was punctured or torn open, which can easily be seen, the fuel vapors could easily be ignited and a roaring fire might result; with lots of smoke for an extended period. In fact, the smoke stains on the right side of the CWT, torn open by external forces, clearly show a major fire resulted. Whereas, there are NO smoke stains in the left side interior of the CWT. So, I find no indication of a violent explosion or the nose section being initially blown off, as depicted by the NTSB. I believe the nose section later folded back onto the right side, leaving a smear of red paint, while the 747 was breaking up due more to aerodynamic forces.
I suspect the ignition of the fuel vapor was the result of an uncontained failure of engine #3. However, I am only trying to find someone who worked on or has information regarding the disassemble of engine #3. Since that does not seem to be possible in this venue, I will seek another, possibly AOPA classifieds, and wish you all safe flying. Goodby.