DIVERS worked yesterday to salvage the wreckage of TWA Flight 800 from the Atlantic Ocean in strong winds and choppy seas, as investigators denied a report saying damage to the front landing gear indicated strongly that a bomb blew the plane apart.
Search officials said poor weather would not slow operations under 120 feet of murky water to locate wreckage that could give vital clues to whether a bomb, a missile or a mechanical fault blew up the Paris bound Boeing 747 on July 17th. All 230 people on board perished.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) denied a New York Times report that quoted investigators as saying damage to the front landing gear was the strongest evidence yet of a bomb.
Searchers have so far retrieved only a small percentage of the plane, which is being reassembled at an aircraft factory hangar in Calverton, Long Island. Forensic tests are being carried out at FBI laboratories in Washington.
Officials have given priority to finding victims, even though this has slowed the investigation into what caused the plane to crash shortly after leaving New York. By yesterday morning, 181 bodies had been recovered, officials said.
Investigators believe the front of the jetliner broke off first and the rest of the plane apparently remained airborne for several seconds before exploding.