Friday 21.03.2003, CET 11:34



Report due into crash of Swissair Flight 111

swissinfo March 21, 2003 11:21 AM




A sign points to a Canadian memorial site for victims of the SR-111 plane crash (Keystone Archive)
Canadian investigators will release next week their final report into the crash of a Swissair MD-11 off Canada�s east coast in September 1998 � which killed all 229 people on board.

Last year, the Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB) circulated a confidential draft copy of the eagerly awaited report among a small group of �officials�.



Almost immediately, leaks from the report began circulating in the Internet and the media.

Much of the rumour-mill focused on the aircraft�s on-board electronics system, which TSB investigators suspected was the source of a fire that preceded the crash.

After recovering and identifying all the victims, the TSB investigation � assisted by Swiss and American experts � began collecting a mountain of debris and data.

But despite all the information, explanations for the crash have not been forthcoming.

What remains certain is that the pilot of flight SR-111 from New York to Geneva noticed a fire about one hour after take-off.

Detailed reconstruction

Over two million fragments of wreckage were salvaged from the ocean floor, some 50 to 60 metres below the surface of where the aircraft crashed into the picturesque bay of St Margaret, ten kilometres from Peggy�s Cove in Halifax.

From the outset, investigators focused their attention on the front section of the aircraft, around the cockpit partition, where fire and heat traces were identified.

Burn marks were found on some 1,000 cables and another 5,000 fragments of wreckage.

The aircraft�s flight and cockpit voice recorders provided few clues to the disaster, having switched off about six minutes before the crash.

Investigators were left with little choice but to painstakingly reconstruct an 11-metre long segment of the MD-11�s front end.

Using state-of-the-art techniques, they pieced together what were often only coin-sized fragments in an effort to shed light on possible causes.

The investigation, which has so far cost over $50 million (SFr68 million), has generated over 14 safety recommendations. More are expected in the final report.

Revelations in �USA Today�

Speculation emerged shortly after the crash that the source of the fire might have been the aircraft�s on-board entertainment system, which allowed passengers to select and watch movies on personal screens, shop and even gamble.

This assumption was recently given fresh weight by an investigative article published in the newspaper, �USA Today�.

The article highlighted the career of Yuri Itkis, a Russian-born inventor, who four years before the Swissair crash established the Las Vegas-based firm, Interactive Flight Technologies (IFT).

The newspaper said Itkis used high-level contacts, including the former US Secretary of State Alexander Haig, to sell his company�s in-flight gambling systems to the international airline industry.

The newspaper added that IFT and the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had committed basic errors in the course of technical safety checks.

A spokesman for the international association of victim�s families, Miles Gerety � an American whose brother died in the crash � has called on the Swiss to launch a criminal investigation should the Canadian report find a link between the electronics system and the crash.

Swiss-Canadian co-production

During the investigation, two journalists, Switzerland�s Kurt Schaad and Canada�s Howard Green, accompanied investigators behind the scenes as they did their work.

The result is a Swiss-Canadian TV co-production by SF DRS and CBS.

The film documents the painstaking reconstruction work and provides an insight into the work of people who devote their lives to investigating flight safety.

The film also looks at the Swissair counselling team that worked with those left behind by the 229 victims.

SF DRS will broadcast the film on March 27, the same day investigating authorities are due to release the results of their findings.

swissinfo, based on an article previously published by NZZ

Key Facts

- Swissair flight SR-111 crashed off the Canadian coast in September 1998, killing all 229 people on board.
- Fragments of wreckage recovered from the scene pointed to a fire as the cause of the disaster.
- Canadian investigators will issue their final report on the crash on March 27.


Related Sites

- Transportation Safety Board of Canada
- USA Today


http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=111&sid=1701854

During the investigation, two journalists, Switzerland�s Kurt Schaad and Canada�s Howard Green, accompanied investigators behind the scenes as they did their work.

The result is a Swiss-Canadian TV co-production by SF DRS and CBS.

Does anyone find it a little odd, that family members and the public have been shut out of the results of the TSB's almost 5 yr. investigation of swissair 111 and yet 2 reporters were permitted to be around the investigation? I find that totally appalling. So here we are trying to guess what the TSB has discovered from the crumbs they've thrown us over the years and yet aren't we the very ones who have been harmed by this terrible tragedy? Absolutely appalling.