The crash of MD-11 near Halifax

McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (registration number HB-IWF, serial number 48448, serial 465) was released in 1991 (the first flight was June 1). On August 5 of the same year, it was transferred to Swissair , in which it received the name Vaud . It is equipped with three Pratt & Whitney PW4462 dual - circuit turbofan engines . On the day of the disaster, he made over 6400 take-off and landing cycles and flew 36,041 hours ^{[2] [3]} .

The aircraft was controlled by an experienced crew, the composition of which was as follows:

• The aircraft commander (FAC) is 49-year-old Urs Zimmermann ( German: Urs Zimmermann ). A very experienced pilot, he worked at Swissair for 27 years and 1 month (since July 1971). He flew the aircraft Douglas DC-8 , McDonnell Douglas DC-9 , McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and Airbus A320 . In the post of commander of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 - since June 1997. Flown over 10 800 hours, over 900 of them on the MD-11.
• The co - pilot is 36-year-old Stefan Löw ( German: Stefan Löw ). An experienced pilot, he worked at Swissair for 7 years (since 1991). Managed aircraft MD-80 and Airbus A320. In the position of co-pilot MD-11 - since May 1998. Flown over 4800 hours, over 230 of them on the MD-11.

Both pilots were in excellent condition at the time of the crash (they had 27 hours of rest before the flight).

11 cabin crew worked in the cabin :

• Patricia Eberhart ( German: Patricia Eberhart ),
• Anne-Elizabeth Castioni-Emery ( German: Anne-Elizabeth Castioni-Emery ),
• Irene Betrisey ( German: Irene Betrisey ),
• Colette Furter ( German: Colette Furter ),
• Sereina Pazeller ( German: Seraina Pazeller ),
• Raphael Birkie ( German Raphael Birkie ),
• Jeannine Pompili ( German: Jeannine Pompili ),
• Regula Reutemann ( German: Regula Reutemann ),
• Peter Schwab ( German: Peter Schwab ),
• Brigit Wiprachtiger ( German: Brigit Wiprachtiger ),
• Florence Zuber ( German: Florence Zuber ).

The flight crew also included aircraft mechanic Rene Oberhansli ( German: Rene Oberhansli ).

On board flight 111 was a Russian woman - 23-year-old Elvira Salakhutdinova ^[4] .

A total of 229 people were on board - 14 crew members and 215 passengers.

At 00:18 UTC (20:18 EDT), a Swissair-111 flight departed on schedule from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. On board were 14 crew members and 215 passengers.

At 00:58 flight 111 without deviations reached FL330 (10,050 meters).

At 01:10:38 the pilots noticed an unusual smell in the cockpit and are looking for a source. After a brief discussion, they decided that the reason was in the ventilation system.

At 01:13:14 smoke seeps into the cockpit.

At 01:13:33 pilots discuss possible alternative options for landing the aircraft.

At 01:14:15 the crew of flight 111 gave the Pan-pan signal to the dispatcher in Moncton , and the pilots asked to land at the nearest airport.

At 01:15:06, Moncton air traffic controller Bill Pickrell (32 years, 9 years of professional experience) invited Flight 111 pilots to land in Halifax .

At 01:19:28, the dispatcher instructed flight SWR 111 to turn 030 ° to approach the runway of the Stanfield International Airport in Halifax.

At 01:20:48, the pilots decided to drop jet fuel before landing.

At 01:22:01 flight 111 turned to the south-south-west at a 200 ° course to drain jet fuel into the ocean (the liner was 46.3 kilometers from Halifax).

At 01:24:09 on board flight autopilot disconnected.

At 01:24:42 flight 111 pilots reported an emergency (“emergency call”, highest priority, immediate danger to life and health). Halifax ATC confirmed receipt of the message.

At 01:24:53, pilots of flight SWR 111 announced that they will begin to drain jet fuel, and then immediately land for landing in Halifax.

In the period from 01:25:06 to 01:25:14 all the important devices in the cockpit were disconnected in sequence.

At 01:25:12, recording of flight recorders stopped.

At 01:25:16, the dispatcher gave permission to reset jet fuel. Flight SWR 111 is not responding.

At 01:25:40, the dispatcher repeatedly gave permission to Flight 111 to drain jet fuel. No answer.

At 01:25:46, the dispatcher in Moncton received incomprehensible fragments of the conversation (probably in Swiss German ).

At 01:31:18 flight SWR 111 crashed into St. Margaret's Bay, 56 kilometers from Halifax. Eyewitnesses reported hearing a loud pop.

Around 02:30 the first rescuers arrived, but they only find the bodies of the dead and the wreckage of the liner.

MD-11 collapsed when it hit the water, most of the debris sank to the bottom of the sea at a depth of 55 meters. In total, 126.5 tons of debris were found, which corresponds to 98% of the mass of the aircraft. The debris recovery lasted 15 months; the last small details were raised in December 1999.

Investigation of the causes of the crash of flight SWR 111 lasted 4 years and cost the Canadian government about $ 39 million (57 million Canadian dollars ) ^[5] . In total, about 4,000 people were involved in the investigation and the operation to raise bodies and debris from the bottom of the ocean.

On March 27, 2003, the Transport Safety Council of Canada (TSBC) published the final report of the investigation ^[6] .

According to the report, the fire on board the flight SWR 111 occurred due to a short circuit in the on-board entertainment system IFEN (“ In-Flight Entertainment Network ”), thanks to which business class passengers could watch videos and play video games. The fire spread due to the insulating material - metallized mylar , which was not flame retardant.

Following safety instructions for combating smoke of unknown origin, the pilots were forced to turn off all auxiliary systems, including the circulation fan in the rear, which caused a fire in the cockpit to spread. Combustible materials used in the structure of the aircraft allowed the fire to spread very quickly, which led to a complete loss of control and the liner falling into the bay. 6 minutes before the accident, all control systems went out of order and the flight recorders disconnected. According to investigators, the pilots tried to extinguish the flames in the cockpit to the last.

• After identifying the causes of the crash of Flight 111, a complete ban was imposed on the use of metallized mylar in the construction of civilian aircraft. Nevertheless, airlines in some countries did not immediately follow this instruction.
• Swissair, in deference to passengers and crew of flight 111, has changed the New York — Geneva flight number from SWR 111 to SWR 023 and the Airbus A330-300 flies over it.
• In a plane crash, a signed phototype print of 1963 was lost under the name “Artist” ( French: Le Peintre ) by the artist Pablo Picasso . The painting was estimated at about $ 1,500,000. Despite the fact that 98% of the wreckage of the aircraft was recovered from the water, only a small fragment from Picasso’s work was discovered.
• There were diamonds and other jewelry in the luggage compartment of the aircraft for a total of $ 1,000,000,000.

• The crash of flight 111 Swissair is shown in two documentary series on the National Geographic Channel television channel - Investigation of air crashes (series Fire on board ) and Seconds before the crash (series Fire in the cabin ).
• It is also featured in the MSNBC American documentary television series Why Planes Crash in the Fire In The Sky series.
• The crash of flight 111 is mentioned in the book by I. A. Muromov “100 Great Plane Crashes” in the chapter Catastrophe of MD-11 over the Atlantic .

• Dubai crash Boeing 747 - similar in circumstances

• Description of the disaster on the Aviation Safety Network
• Transportation Safety Board of Canada
  • Final report HTML , PDF
  • Final report (fr.) HTML , PDF
• Detailed report about the crash on Austrian Wings (German, published on 2 September 2013)
• Swissair Flight 111 - Memorial Website
• Full Coverage: World News: Swissair Crash Investigation - Yahoo! News
• Esquire July 2000 report “The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy” highlighting the human side of the accident
• Isle family grateful for missing Swissair flight - Honolulu Star-Bulletin
• Names of Swissair crash victims CNN
• From Europe and New York, grieving families head to crash site CNN
• Swissair to replace controversial Mylar insulation CBC
• Swissair crash warning to airlines , bbc