Cause Of TWA Flight 800 Crash Not Settled In Americans' Minds

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- The FBI and other governmental investigators may increasingly believe that the crash of TWA Flight 800 was due to mechanical failure, but much of the American public is not convinced. Less than half of Americans currently accept the mechanical failure explanation for the crash, while a substantial number are either unsure or believe it was caused by something very different: an accidental strike by a U.S. Navy missile.

These are among the findings of a recent Gallup poll, conducted shortly after the FBI suggested that it may be getting out of the investigation because it believes the crash is not a criminal matter.

The Navy missile theory, nurtured on the Internet and given prominence by journalist Pierre Salinger, has been all but eliminated by U.S. government officials investigating the crash. Still, 27% of Americans think that a "friendly fire" missile brought the Boeing 747 jet down, compared to 44% who say it was mechanical failure. Another 15% are totally unsure about the cause of the crash.

Despite initial concerns that foreign terrorists were involved in the crash, most Americans now reject the notion that Flight 800 was the target of a terrorist attack: Only 8% think this was the cause.

U.S. Missile Theory has Wide Range of Adherents
The Gallup survey found adherence to the U.S. missile theory to be uniformly high throughout society, rather than concentrated among certain types of Americans. Belief that the crash was caused by a missile strike is slightly higher among younger Americans than those fifty and older, by a margin of 30% to 21%. However, the differences between men and women, whites and blacks, "liberals" and "conservatives" are even smaller.

Tradition of Public Cynicism
Disbelief in government investigations is not something new for the American public. As recently as 1993, 75% of Americans felt that more than one man was responsible for the assassination of President John Kennedy, in direct contradiction of the official Warren Commission report. And last year a Gallup poll found that 71% of Americans think that the U.S. government knows more about UFO's than it is saying

METHODOLOGY
The results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,019 adults, 18 years and older, conducted May 6-7, 1997. For results based on samples of this size, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects could be plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Now thinking about TWA Flight 800 that crashed over Long Island last year -- from what you've heard or read what do you believe was the cause of that crash: Was it: mechanical failure; a terrorist attack; an accidental strike by a U.S. Navy missile; or something else? (RANDOM ORDER)

Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the way Lieutenant Flinn has handled her situation with the Air Force?

Overall, do you think the Air Force has treated Lieutenant Flinn fairly or unfairly?