MOST of the 230 people aboard TWA Flight 800 were killed quickly in mid air by "phenomenal whiplash" when the plane exploded, the medical examiner (coroner) said yesterday.
Suffolk County chief medical examiner Dr Charles Wetli also told county legislators he personally believed the Boeing 747 was brought down by a bomb, but added he had not seen any forensic evidence to support that belief.
"Most people died while still in the air," said the doctor, describing the deaths of all passengers and crew in the still unsolved July 17th crash of the jetliner off New York's Long Island.
"The most likely injury, and I think that happened to everyone up there, is that they got a phenomenal whiplash," he said. "First of all, massive facial and head injuries from hitting the seat in front of them and then a secondary whiplash backward which basically was going to sever all function of the brain stem."
Dr Wetli said DNA testing was increasingly needed to identify victims because some bodies had been reduced to skeletons after weeks in the ocean. He said 206 victims had been retrieved so far but some might never be found.
"I can only say that as an ordinary citizen, yes, I believe that it was a bomb," he said. "As a forensic pathologist I can only tell you that I see evidence of an explosion, whether that explosion was by sinister means or by mechanical defect, I can't tell you."
Meanwhile, investigators told reporters significant amounts of wreckage were yet to be brought to the surface and examination of the four engines ruled them out as the possible cause of the tragedy.
"Everyone is pretty well satisfied that the engines were not a factor in this accident or whatever it turns out to be," said Mr Robert Francis of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Investigators said they still did not have conclusive evidence to declare which of the three prevailing theories a bomb, missile or mechanical failure - brought down the jet in mid air, without warning, 1 1/2 after taking off from New York for Paris.
"We don't know which one is the truth or the facts at this point," said the supervising FBI investigator, Mr James Kallstrom.