Missile may have caused TWA crash

A documentary set to air next month on the 17th anniversary of the crash that killed 230 people will "prove that the officially proposed fuel-air explosion did not cause the crash," the filmmaker said in a statement.

The six "also provide radar and forensic evidence proving that one or more ordnance explosions outside the aircraft caused the crash. They do not speculate about the source or sources of the ordnance explosions."

Numerous witnesses had reported seeing a streak of light and a fireball when the plane exploded, leading some to fear the aircraft had been struck by a rocket or missile before it came down over Long Island shortly after takeoff from John F Kennedy airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board ruled out terrorism and said the crash probably resulted from an explosion in the plane's centre fuel tank due to an electrical short circuit in a fuel gauge wire aboard the Boeing 747.

The former investigators "were not allowed to speak to the public or refute any comments made by their superiors and/or NTSB and FBI officials about their work at the time of the official investigation," the filmmaker said.

"They waited until after retirement to reveal how the official conclusion by the National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB) was falsified and lay out their case in a new original documentary film."

The six are also filing a petition with the NTSB to reopen the probe.

The NTSB said in a statement it was aware of the documentary and would consider the request.