In her recent article, Scarry notes that EMIhas caused military aircraft crashes in the past.Between 1982 and 1988, six Black Hawk helicopterscrashed as a result of EMI, killing 22. During a1986 mission near Libya, EMI also caused the crashof an F111 bomber and disabled five others.
"If military planes can be downed by EMI, whycan't civilian planes be downed by EMI?" Scarryasks in the article. In trying to answer thatquestion, however, Scarry ran into a wall ofhighly classified military documents.
Two military reports, a 1988 Air Force Studyand the other a $35 million three-year Pentagoninvestigation, have studied the effects of EMI onaircraft. Yet, findings remain classified, withaccess denied to both the public and NTSBinvestigators of TWA Flight 800.
In fact, the only government report on EMIavailable to the public is a 1994 NASA studydetailing the dangers of a special kind of EMIcalled High Intensity Radiated Fields (HIRF).
"HIRF may often [have] inadvertent effects oncivilian aircraft," the NASA report says. Compiledby researcher Martin Shooman, report findingsindicate that EMIs occur at "an intermediate andnot insignificant level."
Scarry questions the secrecy of militaryactivity on the evening of the Flight 800 crash.If there is no danger, she says, why have reportsbeen classified and why has the military refusedto divulge any information on the location andactivity of military planes, helicopters and ships"in the vicinity"?
The Pentagon was unavailable for commentyesterday.
In her article, Scarry cites evidence ofmilitary activity the night of Flight 800's crash.Planes take the route Flight 800 was flying,referred to as the "Betty route," when militaryexercises force the closing of air space locatedover Long Island in areas adjacent to TWA 800'sflight path.
Scarry says she does not know the "level orintensity" of military exercises underway at thetime of the crash because the Pentagon refuses topublicly divulge such information. In the article,she explores the possibility that the 10 or somilitary aircraft the Pentagon admits were "in thevicinity" at the time of the crash could haveeffected Flight 800.
Most intriguing, she says, was the presence ofa Navy P3 Orion, an airplane full of electroniccounter measures, that crossed 6,300 feet aboveFlight 800, intersecting its latitude andlongitude "the moment the catastrophe began."
"If a sudden pulse or electromagnetic spike canshort out a wire or...by disrupting electroniccircuits, simply cut off the fuel supply or makethe flight controls on a plane go dead," Scarrysays," isn't it relevant to determine theelectromagnetic features of the air through whichthe plane aspired to fly that night?"
Evidence From the Black Box
A Boeing 747-100 like Flight 800 has over 150miles of electrical wiring, Scarry says, and manysystems can be disabled or act erratically in thepresence of EMI. According to Scarry, EMI cancause a pilot flying such a craft to lose controlof steering mechanisms as the aircraft controlsurfaces (rudders, ailerons and flaps) becomeunresponsive to cockpit "fly by wire" controls.
In her article, Scarry cites evidence thatFlight 800 may have exhibited symp-