Close examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of structural faults such as fatigue , corrosion or mechanical damage that could have caused the in-flight breakup . It was also suggested that the breakup could have been initiated by an in-flight separation of the forward cargo door like the disasters on board Turkish Airlines Flight 981 or United Airlines Flight 811 , but all evidence indicated that the door was closed and locked at impact . The NTSB concluded that " the in-flight breakup of TWA flight 800 was not initiated by a preexisting condition resulting in a structural failure and decompression . " A review of recorded data from long-range and airport surveillance radars revealed multiple contacts of airplanes or objects in TWA 800 's vicinity at the time of the accident . None of these contacts intersected TWA 800 's position at any time . Attention was drawn to data from the Islip , New York , ARTCC facility that showed three tracks in the vicinity of TWA 800 that did not appear in any of the other radar data . None of these sequences intersected TWA 800 's position at any time either . All the reviewed radar data showed no radar returns consistent with a missile or other projectile traveling toward TWA 800
Turkish Airlines Flight 981
Turkish Airlines Flight 981
TWA Flight 800