'Only place ... where anybody really cares'

By RACHEL BOOMER
The Daily News



The Swissair crash has faded to a distant memory for all but Nova Scotians and the families who lost loved ones, said Mark Fetherolf, whose daughter died on the ill-fated flight.

�This is the only place in the world where anybody really cares about what happened to Swissair Flight 111,� Fetherolf said yesterday, smiling sadly.

�In the United States, it hasn�t been in the news, it hasn�t been in the press. It�s not an item of interest.�

Fetherolf�s daughter, Tara, was 16 and on her way to a private school in Geneva when the MD-11 crashed into the waters off Peggy�s Cove 41/2 years ago, killing all 229 people aboard.

Yesterday, Fetherolf and other relatives who lost loved ones in the crash said they�re confident the Transportation Safety Board left no stone unturned in finding out the cause of the crash, and in making recommendations to improve airline safety.

But Fetherolf said he�s worried regulatory agencies in the U.S. won�t force airlines to comply, because the costs involved will be too high.

�We�re very interested in responsibility, in seeing there be some accountability for actions that led up to the crash.�

Like Fetherolf, Lyn Romano, who founded the International Aviation Safety Association after her husband Ray died, plans to continue lobbying for greater air safety.

�I have a lot of work to do,� Romano said.

Fetherolf and Romano were among a handful of family members who came to Halifax yesterday for the release of the long-anticipated report. The Transportation Safety Board held family briefings in New York and Geneva, as well.

Margie Topf of Boston, who lost her sister, Nancy Topf-Gibson, said the report will mark the end of the issue for her family.

�There�s as much closure as you can get when you have this hole in your heart,� said Topf, who wears a heart-shaped necklace made of Peggy�s Cove granite to remind her of her sister. �We need to move on as a family.�

Ian Shaw, who moved from Geneva to open a restaurant in Peggy�s Cove after losing his daughter. Stephanie, left the briefing nearly in tears.

�It is not a loss. It�s an amputation of a section of our heart and of our soul,� Shaw told reporters, his voice breaking.

rboomer@hfxnews.ca

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