Summary:
On September 2, 1998, A Swiss Air MD-11 aircraft, on route from New York to Geneva, crashed off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada at 3:20 am, carrying 215 passengers and 14 crew members. Approximately 19 minutes before the ground explosion, trails of smoke were spotted originating from the frontal sections of the plane. The impact of the crash was so great that tradition identification methods, including dental and X-ray records were of minimal use in identifying the remains retrieved. Articles on topic include modifications made by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Transportation Safety Boards of the United States and Canada, respectively. The focus of the investigation will surround the location and discovery of the aircraft's voice and flight data recorders as well as the exploration of the fuselage in order to discover the source, which was reported to be the electrical wiring located beneath the crew's cabin.
Timeline:
98.09.02 - 3:20 am. SR 111 crashes off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
98.09.03 - Canadian Transportation Safety Board releases a transcript of the radio contacts between the pilots of Swiss Air Flight 111 and the air traffic control statio at Moncton, New Brunscwick.
98.09.06 - Flight data recorder is recovered from the ocean off Peggy's cove and will be analyzed by specialists at the CTSB's engineering laboratory in Ottawa.
98.09.12 - Divers recover the cockpit voice recorder.
98.09.15 - Investigation suffers a setback after the CTSB announces that the the voice recorder has no data from the last six minutes of the flight.
98.10.15 - Swiss Air announces that it will make any all modification required to the aircraft model MD-11, should the FAA prescribe new insulation materials for use aboard passenger aircrafts.
98.10.29 - Based on technical investigations conducted, Swiss Air has decided to turn off the individual flight Entertainment Systems on its MD-11 and Boeing 747 aircrafts as a safeguard against electrical problems. The system, which will allow passengers to view videotapes and is located within the first-class section at the front of the plane, has not yet been identified as a cause of the accident of SR 111.
98.11.05 - Families who have lost loved ones in the crash have formed a family association to share feelings and information about the tragedy. Initially after the crash, Swiss Air offered space on the airline's Web page for the victim's families to speak with one another. However, the surving relatives decided that they would move the site to Yahoo in order that they might speak freely on a more neutral space. Website is located at clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/familiesofswissairflight111.
98.11.20 - CTSB announces that parts of the recovered wreckage show damage consistent with a localized high heat source or fire. The materials recovered stem from the forward area of the aircraft, "the fore and aft of the cockpit bulkhead."
98.12.23 - Police state that the remains of all 229 victims have been identified using state-of-the-art DNA techniques. To compensate for the lack of evidence available for traditional identification purposes, blood samples from the victim's relatives were used to support DNA recognition.
99.03.01 - Swiss Air offers the next-of-kin of European victims of flight SR 111 immediate aid of CHF 195 000 per victim. This amount was previously offered per family. This brings offers for immediate assistance in Europe in line with those in the United States.
Related Concepts
NTSB - National Transportation Safety Board
CTSB - Canadian Transportation Safety Board
FAA - US Federal Aviation Administration
MD-11 - model/type of Swiss Air craft
Swiss Air - airline operating in Geneva, Switzerland
Relevant Sources