http://www.eet.com/sys/news/OEG20030327S0046

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2893019.stm

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6200759%255E1702,00.html

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N27343132.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztravel/2003-03-27-swissair-crah_x.htm

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030327.wswisspk0327/BNStor
y/National

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/5495037.htm

http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=90999DB9-53D6-4A28-AF3A-583ADEF8AB1D

http://www.canada.com/halifax/dailynews/story.asp?id=21D73C70-21F4-4371-B334
-FFAD0470F3AB

Swissair probe cites wiring, FAA certification flaws

By George Leopold

EE Times
March 27, 2003 (4:48 p.m. EST)


WASHINGTON � An electrical spark from an in-flight entertainment system �most likely� ignited insulation, causing the fire that brought down Swissair Flight 111 four years ago, killing all 229 passengers and crew aboard, the Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB) concluded in a report released Thursday (March 27).
The closely held, $30 million investigation of the Sept. 2, 1998, crash off the coast of Nova Scotia did not come up with a definitive answer for the cause of the disaster However, suspicion immediately focused on the heat-generating in-flight entertainment system.

The Canadian board's 338-page report found that problems with wiring to the entertainment system's power-supply probably generated the spark that ignited insulation in the MD-11 aircraft. ``It was determined that the fire most likely started from an electrical arcing event that occurred above the ceiling on the right side of the cockpit,'' the executive summary of the report said.




Canadian investigators also pointed to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) certification system for failing to ensure that entertainment system was properly designed and installed on the MD-11. They said the wiring flaw detected in the entertainment center by itself did not cause the fire.

Among the board's nine safety recommendations were testing insulation materials and aircraft electrical systems. It also recommended tighter certification procedures for in-flight entertainment systems and industry standards for re-setting circuit breakers.

The FAA's certification of the entertainment system ``did not ensure that all the required elements were in place to design, install and certify a system that would be compatible with the MD-11 type certificate,� the Canadian investigators concluded.

An FAA spokesman here said the agency was still digesting the Canadian report, but stressed that it had banned the particular in-flight entertainment system involved in the Swissair crash from MD-11s. The gaming system was built by a small Las Vegas company, Interactive Flight Technologies.

An FAA-certified contractor, Santa Barbara Aerospace, was hired to certify that the system met FAA safety standards and to install the system on Swissair jets. An FAA review later found that the company violated the agency's procedures.

The FAA eventually launched an �enhanced air-worthiness program� covering proper installation of entertainment systems and maintaining wiring systems. While declining to comment specifically on the conclusions of the Canadian report, the FAA spokesman said, �We worked closely with TSB to identify safety issues for the MD-11.�

Few MD-11s are still in service today as passenger aircraft.

The FAA said it would issue a fact sheet later today in response to the Canadian report on the Swissair crash.

Fact sheet:
http://www1.faa.gov/index.cfm/apa/1064/546E06CB-E56A-47C8-BA8D7C944FF9DB8B

Article:

http://www.eet.com/sys/news/OEG20030327S0046