Conspiracy theories abounded in this accident, perhaps by the nature of the accident and the immediate involvement of a very large FBI contingency. Obviously, early FBI press conferences promising to find those responsible for sabotaging the airplane made it more difficult to back away from this cause. The secretive nature of some FBI activities also impeded the investigation and almost led to release of erroneous information as to the cause of this accident. One of the problems with outside input is management and control. Involvement of individuals outside the Safety Board requires management control, which in my experience, is difficult if not impossible to control.
Egos get very strong and the desire to get national recognition becomes a driving force.
Management oversight is a key ingredient in any organization and its success. During my 17years at the Board I experienced two extremes of management styles, micro management and macro management. These styles have a lot to do with time between the accident and the final report. There are serious pitfalls to both of these management styles. I have also experienced the middle of the road type management that struck a good balance in oversight of the investigations, report writing, and development of recommendations.