What really upsets me is the way we are told around the anniversary of the crash, 'Oh by the way, the thugs that did this to your loved ones have a copy of the draft, and you can't.' Actually it's even worse. We were actually told we 'might' get to see the draft. I think it's pretty cruel. But what hasn't been since this horrible nightmare began?

I should probably note that the way I put it about the families not getting the draft are my own words!

Incidentally for any family member interested in filing a request for the information contained in the draft, you don't have to hire a lawyer as far as I understand it, to try and obtain it. We have decided to do that because it is pretty clear to us that we will probably have to take this matter further than a simple request. I would encourage anyone that is interested to at least file a request.

Request for information being worked on by lawyers. Unbelievable what a family member has to go through just to try and obtain the truth about this horrible disaster.

Here is one of the biggest problems I have with only seeing the final draft. The TSB investigators have reported their findings as I understand it, but the board itself has the last word on what is in the final report, after those responsible and a few other parties have a chance to look at it and 'comment'. I would like to be able to see what the investigators themselves have said before anyone else makes possible alterations or makes a decision as to how to present the information to the public. I have no illusions that I might not understand all their findings to date, but think that family members should have a chance to look at them nonetheless.

Here's a hypothetical situation for you. Let's just say that the entertainment system was the starting point of the resulting fire that downed sr111 or in some way was very much responsible for the terrible outcome. Well as it turns out, the Swiss govt. was to be paid some percentage of the profits off of the gambling option of that power sucking monster (not hypothetical at all). Now I've always thought that this should be looked into due to the fact that it didn't belong on that jet in the first place (the FAA said that, though they approved it through SBA)and there seemed to have been some pressure to install it despite the fact that it was obviously dangerous. So where was that pressure coming from? How high up did it go in the swissair organization itself? Did it go further than that and involve government officials? Will politics be involved in the final report to cover up any wrongdoings on the part of the US(the FAA)and the Swiss government? Call me paranoid, but let's not be too naive. The fact that the Swiss govt. was to benefit from the profits is a big enough wakeup call that something smells here. JMO. The only way to get to the bottom of this is to continue to try and get information in anyway that we can.

Request for information went out today. As I understand it, they have 30 days to respond.

Our request for information regarding the draft went out on the 14th of November. Apparently unknown to Mark and I, on Nov. 7th before our request was sent, another letter from the TSB went out to families of sr111 (just got it today) that states that family members will not be privy to that information. As discussed earlier, that would also mean that we are not permitted to comment as well. It is not a response to our request but just a general form like letter that all family members appeared to have received. I'm not sure why they sent another letter as it seems to say almost exactly the same thing as the last one that went out only this one is signed by Vic Gerden.

You know I just checked the first letter and I think maybe this is the same one. I'm not sure why we received this so late but it definately appears to be a copy of the first one. Actually both are signed by Vic Gerden and read exactly the same.

Now that I think about it, the first one came as an email and the second one is just a hard copy of the first.