There was significant precedence in the military side prior to 1996- NTSB did not pull this out of their arse.Also, the AC unit near that tank had overheated the vapors. It was a accumulation of bad luck
ny times

On Dec. 10, 1993, a Wisconsin Air National Guard KC-135 blew up on the ground at Gen. Billy Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. Six maintenance personnel died.

An investigative board found "clear and convincing evidence" that an explosion in the plane's center fuel tank was triggered by sparking in a wire within the housing of a fuel pump. The electrical arc managed to enlarge a tiny vent hole in the housing, sending molten copper from the wire into the tank. Fuel vapors quickly ignited.

-- On Sept. 17, 1987, a KC-10 exploded at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Again, the cause was attributed to a fuel vapor explosion in the center fuel tank. One mechanic died.

Investigators found that fuel had leaked, and vapors probably had been ignited by arcing from a battery near the pump area for the tank.

Shortly after the incident, the Air Force ordered checks of all KC-10s and found a dozen similar leaks.

-- On July 24, 1989, at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, an Air Force B-52 bomber went up in flames, killing one person, after a refueling team mistakenly left a vent plug in the plane's center fuel tank. The plug caused too much vapor pressure to build. The tank ruptured, spilling 2,600 gallons of fuel onto the tarmac. Air Force investigators were unable to determine the ignition source.

-- On Oct. 4, 1990, an Air Force KC-135 tanker exploded during approach to Loring Air Force Base in Maine. That incident involved a rear aerial-refueling storage tank rather than the central fuel tank. Witnesses said they saw two explosions on the plane and then saw the tail section separate from the aircraft. Investigators blamed the accident, which killed all four crew members, on a fuel pump that overheated to at least 1,400 degrees.

-- In another rear-tank incident, on Sept. 20, 1989, a KC-135 assigned to the Alaska Air National Guard exploded on the ground at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. Two people died. The accident was attributed to a malfunction of a refueling pump, which set off vapors in a rear tank.

This post was edited on 4/27/23 at 6:04 am