"What do you think caused last summer's crash of TWA Flight 800?"
(asked at the Bellevue Regional Library on 03-14-97; published in the EJ on 03-16-97)

Joe Savage, Traffic engineering consultant, Issaquah


"I think it's an asinine question to be asking the man on the street because it needs to be answered by investigators... I think the opinion of anybody who's not involved in the investigatory team is worthless. It's a matter of fact, not a matter of opinion... But if I had to guess -- mechanical failure."

Alyx Freitas, Customer service rep., Mercer Island


"I have no idea, partly because I don't pay that much attention to the news, and partly because what I have read has been so varied, and so opposing... I just got done reading Michael Crichton's "Airframe" and so I don't know what it could be!"

Tom Waller, Watershed technician, Yakima


"I know there's a big controversy over whether it was mechanical failure or terrorism -- that's what we hear about. They were looking at explosive residue and they say they found something, a trace... I just don't know. I'm reluctant to say it was any one thing more than another. There's so much misinformation and sensationalism that it strikes a lot of emotions... I believe it was mechanical failure -- most likely."

Peter T. Miller, Gardener/landscaper and telecom student, Seattle


"I only have an opinion on something like that if I'm personally involved. They thought it was shot down, and now it's maybe a fuel pump that wasn't sealed properly, a faulty engine part... Other than that, let's put it this way -- throughout history, there's been one cover-up after another... I just don't get involved for a couple of months. It just wastes your time because you hear one opinion right after another."

Julie Beebe, Homemaker, Redmond


"What a bizarre question. I really don't have an opinion. The initial reports were that it might be a land-to-air missile, but that never felt right to me because living in this country, you watch the news and think 'It couldn't happen to us.' We don't want to think it could happen to us."

Mike Maguire, Bank manager, Bellevue


"I don't know. I think the theories of a surface-to-air missile and other explanations are still being looked at. And the issue of potential problems with the aircraft fuel tanks and a spark -- we just don't know. The last thing from Pierre Salinger on a surface-to-air missile or a wayward Navy missile appears to be unsubstantiated. But who knows? It seems that the resolution is taking a long time... ."

© 1997 by the Bellevue, WA-based Eastside Journal (née Journal American) newspaper.

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