In the Blink of an Eye: The FBI Investigation of TWA Flight 800

By Pat Milton

Book Overview

Like the sinking of the Titanic, the crash of TWA Flight 800 just off Long Island, New York, in the early evening of July 17, 1996, captured the world's imagination. Associated Press reporter Pat Milton has covered the story from day one and was granted unprecedented access to the FBI investigation--the largest and most complex in the agency's history.

Initially suspecting that a crime had been committed, James Kallstrom, the head of the FBI's New York office, led the two-year investigation from the start. In the Blink of an Eye offers a rare look at the efforts of several government agencies--which often had different missions--to find the truth about the most mysterious and disturbing disaster in aviation history.

Commercial jets don't just fall out of the sky. So what happened? Was TWA's Flight 800 the first plane to be downed by enemy action within the United States? On the night of the crash, President Clinton told his national security advisors to ready a plan to retaliate if the destruction of Flight 800 proved to be a state-sponsored terrorist attack. If a bomb or missile had caused the disaster, Kallstrom was determined to find the perpetrators before they struck again. If it wasn't either of these, he was no less determined to preclude the sort of conspiracy theorizing that followed the Warren Commission report on the assassination of JFK.

As Kallstrom and his agents tried to piece together the sequence of events that preceded the explosion of Flight 800's center fuel tank, the victims' families also had to come to terms with the tragedy. Their anguish was as much on Kallstrom's mind as the details of the mystery itself. In this vivid account, Pat Milton takes us inside the homes and lives of the victims' families as well as inside the investigation, and as close to the real cause of the crash as we'll ever come.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812991745
• ISBN13: 9780812991741
• Release Date: August 1999
• Publisher: Random House
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent material very well written

This work is fascinating and very well written. It was as intriguing as a novel and showed tremendous insight and sensitivity. I'd recommend it highly

Fascinating and extremely well-researched

Having followed the disaster quite closely Pat Milton does an incredible job. If you do not have tears in your eyes after the 1st 2 chapters you are not human. After reading this book I came away with 2 distinct impressions: First Jim Kallstrom is a hell of a man. His dedication to the families and his attitude of "screw bureaucracy" should be commended. God forbid I should ever be involved in such a tradegy I would want him involved. Second, if anyone ever flies TWA after this incident is crazy. The way they handled the families (not offering bereavement fares to those who wished to attend the memorial was disgusting), is a tradegy in itself.

A riveting book on a subject that you thought was played out

Pat Milton has written a stunning new book on a subject about which you've already read a zillion words -- the tragedy of Flight 800. Guess what? The book is fresh, factual, interesting, informative AND a page turner. You may finish in it one sitting.By focusing on the FBI investigation and and its sympathetic -- even heroic -- leader, Jim Kallstrom, Milton has given her story an emotional center that eluded most other writers.Furthermore, the story puts you in the place of the victims' survivors with such effectiveness and power that you feel that your circle of close friends has suddenly grown much wider.This is a serious book by a serious writer. It's not a "first-off-the-press-and-sell-the-most-copies" rush job. It's well thought out, extensively researched, and written with feeling. Even if you've never read a book about a transportation disaster before, this is the one to grab.

Packed with emotion, compassion and brilliant research

This book is a must read for anyone who doubts the deep sense of dedication, duty and devotion of the FBI Agents who painstakingly investigated the crash of TWA Flight 800. The combination of technical information meshed with the spiritual attachment between the investigators and the victims and their families is amazing and heartwarming. The Author writes about this terrible tragedy with such compassion and intensity that it is hard to put the book down even for a moment. All the various conspiracy theories are put to rest as the Author delves into the minds and motives of a group of men and women who not only wanted to see justice served but who put there own reputations on the line to accomplish their mission. This book gives us the heros that we so desparately need.

Heartbreaking yet inspiring disaster story

In the Blink of an Eye is a meticulous three year investigation by a veteran Associated Press correspondent of a tragic,heartbreaking air tradegy. It portrays Jim Kallstrom, the FBI's chief, as a hard nosed investigator who feels the pains of the families of the 230 victims. Even Kallstrom, a decorated Vietnam Marine veteran, sheds tears along with the families. It is a heartbreaking, compassionate story about the FBI's, agents and how they handled their grief along with the families. In the end, its makes you feel that the FBI and other involved agencies were everything that Americans could hope for. Milton tell us the story with compassion and understanding. She leaves no questions unanswered. It's great reporting and writing. By Roy Charles