in beirut, it was reported that a palestinian youth organization claimed it had put a guerrilla on the plane with a bomb. however, a spokesman for twa said sabotage was "highly unlikely." later, the national transportation safety board determined that the plane was indeed destroyed by a bomb hidden in the cargo hold, which caused structural failure resulting in uncontrollable flight. the uss "independence" along with the uss biddle was tasked with picking up the debris and bodies.