World - AP Canada

Swissair Crash Probe Completed
Thu Aug 29, 9:57 PM ET
By TOM COHEN, Associated Press Writer

TORONTO (AP) - Canadian investigators have sent out a draft report on
the 1998 Swissair crash off Nova Scotia, completing their probe
almost four years after the accident that killed all 229 people on
board.



Transportation Safety Board spokesman John Cottreau said Thursday the
confidential report was distributed to all involved parties this
month for comment.

The final report was expected to be made public early next year, said
Cottreau, who declined to discuss any details of the draft report.

"The data collection and investigation has concluded," he said. "Now
we're into the confidential draft report phase."

Jean Overney, head of the Swiss investigation office, confirmed the
Swiss Federal Office for Civil Aviation received a copy of the draft
report. Overney said no official comment would come until the final
report gets published.

Swissair Flight 111 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean en route from New
York to Geneva on Sept. 2, 1998. Pilots reported smoke in the cockpit
53 minutes into the trip, and the electrical systems began failing 15
minutes later.

Cottreau called the investigation the largest ever conducted by
Canada's transportation safety board. Investigators used 2 million
pieces of recovered wreckage, some as small as a dollar coin, to
partially reconstruct the MD-11 jetliner.

Asked why it took almost four years to conclude the investigation,
Cottreau said the board takes however much time is required to
complete its work.

Swissair went out of business in October 2001, shortly after the
Sept. 11 attacks in the United States that crippled the air travel
industry worldwide.

The investigation has determined a fire in the ceiling at the front
of the plane caused the crash. Investigators focused their probe on
charred wiring, but have yet to say what caused the fire.

Two years ago, the Canadian safety board recommended that airlines do
a better job of training and equipping crews to detect and fight
fires on planes.

An earlier recommendation by investigators noted safety problems with
the plane's insulation blankets, which have been suspected of
spreading fire. The FAA ( news - web sites) in the United States
responded by requiring removal of the insulation blankets from all
U.S.-registered MD-11 aircraft.

In March, a U.S. federal judge dismissed claims for punitive damages
for families of victims of the Swissair crash.

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but we don't get to see it.