Hey Barb, how have you been? Things have been rough for me as usual, lost my dad in November, he was 74. I found out he was in the hospital on the 2 year anniversary of my sister's death. We also lost my uncle in November of 1995 so November is now my family's least favorite month.

I've got a question about flight 111 and I hope you don't mind my asking it. If you do just ignore the question and accept my apologies for bringing it up. But I was watching coverage on CNN last night about that awful Malaysian Airlines flight that is missing; and one of the guests on there said that on flight 111 the pilots were driven from the cockpit by the fire and I had never heard that before. I always thought that they were in the cockpit the whole time. I'm just wondering if you had ever heard that before or if this guy was just mistaken.

I hope all is well with you, and that this blanket coverage of the missing plane hasn't bothered you.

Murray.

Hi Murray, my sympathy on the recent deaths in your family. What a terrible month for you and your family.

Murray here's what I found, and I do recall that it had been said that it looked like Zimmermann the Captain, was out of his seat. Low stayed seated. Here is an excerpt from an old article:

There has been speculation that one or both pilots abandoned the cockpit due to intense heat.

He said the copilot's seat was in the flying mode - in and forward - and the stress on his belt indicated he was in his chair when the plane hit the water. Zimmermann's seat was in the "back-and-out" position.

But the position of the captain's track-mounted seat - away from the control panel and off to one side - doesn't necessarily mean Zimmermann bolted, said Hinderberger.

"It could have been for a number of reasons."

The pilot, Swissair's chief instructor, could have been reaching to get a manual, or gotten up to get another manual and then gotten back in his seat to read it while copilot Stefan Loew flew the plane.

The investigation, he said, is "going to be a long road."

Yet Hinderberger says he's confident chief investigator Vic Gerden and his team will find the main causes of the disaster.

"Based on the tenacity of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, I would say it's very likely," he said, adding the team is analysing parts that most other investigative agencies would have dismissed as irrelevant.

http://www.iasa-intl.com/folde...ir_crash_Boeing.html

Hope that helps, Murray. Take care of yourself!

Murray, I don't think they ever figured out why Zimmermann's seat was in the 'back and out' position, even after the investigation was completed.

Yeah, when I watched on Mayday (Air Crash Investigations) they guessed that Zimmerman got out of the seat to try to fight the fire and then succumbed to the smoke. Of course we'll never know, but this guy made it sound like both the pilots were completely out of the cockpit.

Murray, I don't think he succumbed to smoke. I don't believe anyone on the flight did from what I remember reading.


BTW Murray, I just want to thank you for always remembering the tragedy. I really appreciate that. Hope you are doing a little better given what you've been through lately.

Barbara

NP Barb. And we all have hardships, that's life. Just gotta keep pluggin away as best we can until our number is up. I do wish that people treated each other better. Too many selfish people out there who only care about themselves and no one else, so I try to be the best person that I can and hope that others will see my example.

Murray, you are so right about that. Thanks for stopping by. Hope to hear from you again soon.

Barbara