From Flight 800?

A human bone, a femur, found in August on a Montauk beach may be that of a TWA Flight 800 victim, officials announced this week.

A Manhattan woman vacationing in Montauk found the femur on a beach some five miles west of Montauk Point. Susan Hoffman thought it belonged to an animal and took it back to the city with her.

According to Ellen Borakove of the New York City Medical Examiner's office, Ms. Hoffman became concerned last month when friends told her the bone might be human remains. She brought it to detectives at the 19th Precinct, who turned it over to Ms. Borakove's office.

Officials there had intended to hand it on to the Suffolk County Medical Examiner. "We knew Dr. [Charles] Wetli would want to see it," Ms. Borakove said Tuesday. Dr. Wetli's office was to have received the bone on Friday.

However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation intervened, asking to run tests on it first. It is now in F.B.I. custody.

The bodies of 15 crash victims have never been recovered.