Egyptian Group Claimed Responsibility for 1996 TWA Flight 800 Crash

Newly surfaced FBI records show a terror group in Egypt sent faxes claiming responsibility for downing TWA Flight 800 two days after the July 1996 crash off Long Island. The records, obtained by Judicial Watch through Freedom of Information Act requests, include a New York teletype dated July 19, 1996, that states FBI headquarters received faxes generated from Cairo claiming credit for the destruction of the aircraft.

The document does not name the group or assess the claim's credibility.

A 14-month FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force probe and a four-year National Transportation Safety Board investigation concluded the crash resulted from a short circuit that ignited fuel vapors in the plane's center wing fuel tank. The NTSB said the source of ignition could not be determined with certainty but the most likely cause was a short circuit outside the fuel tank.

The FBI closed its criminal investigation in 1997, stating no evidence indicated a criminal act caused the crash. All 230 people aboard the Boeing 747 died when the plane exploded 12 minutes after departing JFK International Airport for Paris.

Watch filed suit this week against the NTSB seeking additional documents. The group also produced a 45-minute documentary, "Judicial Watch Investigates TWA 800 – 30 Years Later," which debuts Saturday on YouTube. The organization pointed to a February 1997 internal FBI memo that listed three theories under consideration at the time: a bomb, a missile, and mechanical failure.

" Chris Farrell, Judicial Watch's chief investigator, said the newly obtained records raise questions about the extent to which investigators pursued the Egyptian claim. The group is seeking the original faxes and related investigative records. Physicist Tom Stalcup, who consulted on lawsuits filed by victims' families, said he identified a piece of fuselage with a curved end that indicated an external source of the explosion.