The following is an article that appeared in the French publication, 'Le Point' in late Novemember of '98. It was reported that because swissair was in such a hurry to get the IFEN installed on their aircraft, they elected not to wait for the FAA certification (performed by DAS Santa Barbara Aerospace)but to turn to BAZL- the Swiss equivalent of the FAA) to certify the early installations so that they would waste no time getting those new systems up and running to lure passengers to fly their airline. This individual cried foul- said that it wasn't even possible to see how the system was installed as they were mainly covered up and reported that BAZL was pressured by swissair to get the job done. Supposedly an investigation took place but I believe in light of the CTSB's revelations this information should be revisited by the Swiss.

SWISSAIR
Video games blamed

The inquest regarding the causes of the accident of the MD 11 of Swissair

Last week the Transportation Safety Office of Canada decided to concentrate its investigation on the electronic entertainment system offered to the passengers: the cables feeding the screens went through the cockpit. The remains of this system bear traces of intense heat. For the time being, there are only suspicions. Last Sunday however, Leon Vonlanthen, Assistant Director of the Federal Civil Aviation Office (OFAC) accused Swissair of having exerted pressure on its administration to install films and video games in a hurry. �We were looking only at what we were able to see, the installations were hidden by a covering� claimed Leon Vonlanthen. The magazine �L�Illustr� then revealed that this electronic system had been installed by a small and unknown American company, Interactive Flight Technologies, domiciled in Phoenix, Arizona, and transformed since the accident into a dry-cleaning company. The in-flight entertainment offered to the passengers in first and business class had not tempted any other airline in the world. Consuming much electricity, the system was connected directly to the �AC supply bar No. 2�, the plane�s main electrical system.

Finally, last Monday, Moritz Leuenberger the Swiss Minister for Environment, Transportation and Energy ordered an administrative inquest at OFAC. P. Brugisser, the head of Swissair, rejects all accusations, pointing out that for the time being �no causality link between the interactive on-board entertainment system of flight SR111 and the accident could be established�.

IAN HAMEL
(in Geneva)
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Now here is something to contemplate-in the case of both 'beanspillers' that tried to get the truth out there regarding this IFEN scandal, both were harrassed by the authorities for speaking out (anon points that out in a post regarding 'beanspiller' on this site) and yet those responsible still go unpunished- 229 dead due to greed. Wouldn't you think that the focus of any criminal investigation should have been on those responsible for this terrible tragedy all along?