Entertainment system behind Swissair fire - whistleblower
Source claims probe found wiring to blame, cites confidential report

By RICHARD DOOLEY
The Daily News

Monday, September 02, 2002

JANET KIMBER
A visitor looks out to sea at the site of the Swissair memorial at Whale's Back yesterday.

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The families of victims of Swissair Flight 111 have to wait until next year to learn what started the fire that caused it to slam into the Atlantic Ocean near Peggy’s Cove four years ago today, killing all 229 people on board.

But information purporting to be leaked from the Transportation Safety Board’s investigation into the crash has found its way to the Internet, and is being widely circulated by relatives of the crash victims.

The information from a source calling himself “beanspiller _ca” claims investigators have identified the cause of the fire as improper wiring of the Boeing MD-11’s controversial high-tech entertainment system.

The in-flight entertainment system was wired into the seats and offered video on demand, games and other high-tech options. It was supplied by Interactive Flight Technologies Inc. and installed by a contractor, Hollingshead International, and certified by Santa Barbara Aerospace.

Beanspiller claims Flight 111 investigators discovered the system’s wiring could have been corroded and worn, causing an electrical fire.

“The investigators discovered all this wiring was laid bare in the space above the cabin instead of in a conduit, as required by law,” Beanspiller writes. “I’m putting my neck on the line printing this, but you have the right to know.”

The Transportation Safety Board has begun circulating a confidential draft report to parties involved in the investigation in a review and comment process that could take months to complete.

Board spokesman John Cottreau said the board doesn’t monitor Internet sites related to the crash and won’t comment on the recent posting.

“We are still in the report production phase, and this is confidential,” he said.

Mark and Barbara Fetherolf, whose 16-year-old daughter Tara died in the crash, closely monitor Internet chat groups for information relating to the investigation.

“I think Beanspiller is the real deal,” said Mark Fetherolf. He said Beanspiller had detailed information that is not generally available.

Fetherolf said he is angry family members have to learn information about the crash from anonymous sources and is worried the TSB’s draft review process gives companies that could be held accountable for an accident a chance to read findings before they are made publicly available.

Fetherolf said he only hopes the Flight 111 final report reveals what happened and why. “To that end, we can only applaud the courage of those who spill the beans,” he said.

The investigation focused on a fire in the cockpit section of the plane detected by its pilots 16 minutes before the plane slammed into St. Margarets Bay, shattering the jet into millions of pieces. The New York to Geneva jet was preparing for an emergency landing at Halifax International Airport when it crash-ed around 10:31 p.m. on Sept. 2, 1998.

A fire is believed to have spread rapidly through the plane’s forward bulkheads, severely disabling the jet and sending it plunging into the sea.

The cause of the fire has not been identified, but wiring has long been considered the prime suspect.

Last year, lead investigator Vic Gerden said the best investigators may be able to do is pinpoint a chain of events that contributed to the disaster.

rdooley@hfxnews.southam.ca

http://www.canada.com/halifax/story.asp?id={21AF8B7B-5BFE-4574-88DD-DFFF10641012}