Sunday, September 1, 2002 Back The Halifax Herald Limited

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Ingrid Bulmer / Herald Photo
The Bayswater memorial to the 229 people who died in the crash of Swissair Flight 111 on Sept. 2, 1998.

Swissair tragedy marked
Up to 20 family members to visit crash site by boat
By Michael Lightstone

Public prayers and private thoughts will mark the fourth anniversary Monday of the deaths of 229 people in the Swissair disaster off Nova Scotia's coast.

The relatives of a number of victims will return to the province and visit the site where their loved ones were killed, said American Miles Gerety, whose brother died in the 1998 crash.

But he said it's tough to tell just how many people intend to travel here.

"I think there are some people who are just going to come every year," Mr. Gerety said recently. "With a lot of them, you don't know they're going to come until the very last minute."

Mr. Gerety, whose brother Pierce was 56 when he was killed, said the Swissair anniversary is not only a time for memorials, it's also a reunion for the families and Nova Scotians who helped them.

"It's an interesting thing - it's surprising the alliances that were formed," he said by phone from Connecticut.

On Monday, a public gathering at the Bayswater memorial to Swissair victims is scheduled for 10:30 a.m., organizer John O'Donnell said.

A reception hosted by a local Anglican church will follow at the Blandford community centre.

Mr. O'Donnell said that at 4:30 p.m. up to 20 family members plan to take a boat from Peggys Cove to the crash site. Some of them will then have supper at the Sou'Wester restaurant.

"That's much more of an informal thing, in the same way that they'll be visiting different families around St. Margarets Bay who've they've gotten to know over the years," said Mr. O'Donnell, a chaplain with the military reserves in Halifax.

Swissair Flight 111 plunged into St. Margarets Bay on Sept. 2, 1998, killing all passengers and crew members on board. The aircraft was en route to Geneva from New York.

The public part of the Swissair anniversary has been low-key in the past couple of years. By contrast, four memorial services over two days were held to mark the tragedy's first anniversary in 1999. They attracted hundreds of mourners to sites in and around metro.

Mr. Gerety said that as long as the victims' families want it, there will probably always be a "slightly formal service" in Nova Scotia to honour those who died in the plane crash.

"I see that as kind of being indefinite," he said.

Swissair's Boeing MD-11 went down on a Wednesday at 10:31 p.m., shortly after its pilot reported smoke in the cockpit. It crashed near Peggys Cove while dumping fuel over the Atlantic.

Mr. O'Donnell said nothing official has been planned for Monday night at the exact moment of the crash.

"There are always a few family members who light a candle, go onto the rocks of Peggys Cove or whatever, around that time."

Recovery efforts and the initial accident investigation essentially shut down one of Nova Scotia's most popular sightseeing spots, as Peggys Cove was temporarily transformed into a restricted-access disaster zone.

The tragedy has linked many local residents with the families and friends of those who died.

Mr. Gerety, who couldn't make last year's Swissair anniversary events, said personal business will prevent him from attending this year too. He said he's surprised at the number of Swissair family members who go to Nova Scotia every September to observe the anniversary.

The Transportation Safety Board's final report into the disaster won't be ready until early next year. However, a draft was sent in August to the government agencies and aviation manufacturers involved, and the families want to see it as well.

Crash investigators have been looking at the role that the plane's electrical wiring played in the onboard fire.

The recovery operation and accident probe has cost more than $54.8 million.

Swissair eventually went bankrupt and folded under a heavy debt load in October 2001.


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