HALIFAX (CP) - Highlights from the Transportation Safety Board's final
report on the 1998 crash of Swissair Flight 111:
- The fire that led to the crash most likely started from electrical
arcing that began in wiring above the ceiling on the right side of the
cockpit.
-
- Investigators found evidence of electrical arcing in a cable
associated with the plane's inflight entertainment system, but were unable
to pinpoint it as the definitive cause of the crash.
-
- The arcing ignited flammable cover material on nearby thermal
acoustic insulation blankets and quickly spread. The board concluded that
certification standards for material flammability were inadequate.
-
- The board cleared the pilots of any wrongdoing. Investigators
determined the pilots wouldn't have been able to land the plane safely
even if they had tried to do so immediately after declaring an emergency.
-
The board made 23 recommendations, nine of them new. Four of them
propose improvements to "the capture and storage of flight data" on
cockpit voice recorders, flight data recorders, and cockpit image
recording systems.
A chronology of events surrounding the crash and aftermath of Swissair
Flight 111:
Sept. 2, 1998 - Bedford Institute of Oceanography near Halifax
registers seismic event from suspected crash site at 10:31:22 p.m. AT.
Sept. 4 - Rescue officials officially acknowledge no survivors, shift
to recovery mission.
Sept. 6 - Divers recover flight data recorder.
Sept. 15 - Investigators reveal the aircraft's second black box stopped
working about the same time as the first, six minutes before the MD-11
crashed.
Sept. 17 - Investigators reveal crew reported smelling smoke three
minutes before issuing their first emergency call.
Oct. 1 - U.S. Federal Aviation Administration announces plans to launch
review of non-structural aircraft components, including wiring, in 1,837
older planes.
Oct. 29 - Swissair disconnects inflight entertainment systems in its
aircraft after investigators find fire damage, including insulation burned
on wires connected to Flight 111's main electrical power source.
Nov. 5 - Investigators recover heat-damaged Kapton wiring along with
other burned electronics from the cockpit.
Nov. 12 - FAA issues airworthiness directive on dimmer switches that
can overheat and cause smoke in the cockpit.
Nov. 20 - Transportation Safety Board of Canada notes signs of heat
damage on Kapton-coated wires.
Dec. 9 - FAA issues airworthiness directive requiring MD-11 operators
to inspect and repair any damaged wires above cabin passenger doors.
Jan. 28, 1999 - FAA issues directive requiring general inspection of
all electrical wiring and insulation blankets on all MD-11s.
Aug. 11 - Metalized Mylar insulation found to be significant factor in
the spread of fire aboard Flight 111.
Aug. 31 - Two dozen caskets containing the unidentified remains of
passengers from the transatlantic flight are buried during service at
memorial site in Bayswater, N.S.
Sept. 1 - Hundreds take part in service remembering the victims at
second memorial site near Peggy's Cove, N.S.
Sept. 29 - FAA bans the inflight entertainment system used on Flight
111.
April 5, 2000 - FAA orders airlines to inspect or unplug cockpit map
lights on MD-11 jets after Canadian authorities find they could start a
fire.
April 2000 - FAA issues eight more safety orders, bringing to over 30
the number of airworthiness directives released since the crash.
Dec. 4 - The Transportation Safety Board of Canada releases five
recommendations, suggesting planes have more fire detectors on board and
that pilots land immediately if they smell smoke.
Aug. 6, 2001 - Tests by Canadian investigators show the plane's
overhead aisle and emergency lights could be linked to the cockpit fire.
Oct. 2 - Swissair forced to ground fleet, leaving 38,000 people
stranded worldwide.
Oct. 4 - Swissair resumes flights after government bailout.
Jan, 31, 2002 - Switzerland announces new national airline called
Swiss, combining the services of the defunct carrier Swissair and regional
airline Crossair.
March 5 - U.S. federal judge dismisses claims for punitive damages for
families of victims of Flight 111. Judge rules that the crash is covered
by the Death on the High Seas Act of 1920, which only allows recovery of
compensatory damages, or real losses associated with income and medical
costs.
Aug. 29 - Canadian investigators send out confidential draft report on
crash to all involved parties for comment.
March 27, 2003 - Final report into crash of Flight 111 released by the
Transportation Safety Board of Canada. The report implicates inflight
entertainment system as a cause and clears pilots of wrongdoing.