Investigators inched closer Saturday to concluding that TWA Flight 800 was brought down by a bomb, but gusting winds and choppy seas hindered searchers trying to gather evidence that could prove their theory.
"I know there was a catastrophic event on the airplane. The least likely thing is mechanical," James Kallstrom, head of the FBI's New York office, told reporters at a news conference. "That's just common sense."But Kallstrom said more evidence was needed before investigators could reach a firm conclusion. "Without some forensics or some other evidence that comes our way, the golden nugget, somebody comes in and confesses, and we corroborate his story . . . we're not going to get there," he said.
The Coast Guard used aircraft and ships in the search that was expanded to an area of 500 square nautical miles, larger than Yellowstone National Park, Coast Guard Lt. Chris Zendan said. Winds were gusting 25 to 39 knots, and waves were three to five feet high, he said.
He said the search zone was expanded out of concern that the choppy seas had dispersed the debris over a wider area.
Investigators using sonar equipment detected a trail of wreckage and a large object on the ocean floor in the area where TWA Flight 800 crashed, officials said Saturday.
"This is what we want," said Kallstrom. "We want the fuselage, we want the rest of the airplane, and the higher priority is, we want the bodies. I suspect they're all together."
National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Robert Fran-cis said the object at the end of the wreckage rises at least 15 feet above the ocean floor.
He said searchers hoped to videotape the piece of wreckage on Sunday and then send Navy divers down for it.
The Paris-bound Boeing 747 burst into a ball of fire late Wednesday soon after taking off from New York, killing all 230 people on board.
It was the second worst aviation disaster ever in the United States, after the May 1979 crash of an American Airlines DC-10 in Chicago that killed 272 people.
Searchers have recovered 104 bodies and bags of body parts, the Coast Guard said. Only 10 bodies had been identified.
Kallstrom, who said earlier the FBI was conducting "a criminal investigation" into the explosion, described the amount of wreckage recovered as "minimal."
Francis said late Saturday about 1 percent of the wreckage had been recovered.
He said investigators had found nothing unusual in the plane's mechanical records, and an on-board system that assessed engine performance had sent ground monitors a signal one minute after take-off indicating no anomalies.
Grieving families of victims of the crash accused authorities of keeping them in the dark about the possible causes of the explosion.
Ron Dwyer, of Phoenix, Arizona, who lost his 11-year-old daughter, Larkyn, said he feared authorities probing a possible terrorist action were keeping information from anxious family members.
"I believe there is enough information to know what happened," Dwyer told reporters. "In my opinion, information is being withheld or suppressed until the (Olympic) Games are up and running so that the terrorists can't claim victory."
"The families are frustrated with that dance," he said.