.jpg) HB-IWF, the aircraft involved, on 14 July 1998 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 2 September 1998 |
| Summary | Crashed after in-flight fire |
| Site | Atlantic Ocean, 9 km (5.6 mls) southwest off Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada 44°24′33″N 63°58′25″W / 44.40917°N 63.97361°W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas MD-11 |
| Aircraft name | Vaud |
| Operator | Swissair |
| IATA flight No. | SR111 |
| ICAO flight No. | SWR111 |
| Call sign | SWISSAIR 111 |
| Registration | HB-IWF |
| Flight origin | John F. Kennedy International Airport New York City, New York, United States |
| Destination | Geneva Airport Geneva, Switzerland |
| Occupants | 229 |
| Passengers | 215 |
| Crew | 14 |
| Fatalities | 229 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Swissair Flight 111 (SR111/SWR111) was a scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States, to Cointrin Airport in Geneva, Switzerland. The flight was also a codeshare flight with Delta Air Lines.[1] On 2 September 1998, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 performing this flight, registration HB-IWF, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Halifax Stanfield International Airport at the entrance to St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. The crash site was 8 kilometres (5 mi; 4 nmi) from shore, roughly equidistant from the small fishing and tourist communities of Peggy's Cove and Bayswater, killing all 215 passengers and 14 crew members on board the MD-11, making the crash the deadliest accident in the history of Swissair and the deadliest accident involving the McDonnell Douglas MD-11. It is also the second-deadliest aviation accident to occur in Canada, behind Arrow Air Flight 1285R.
The search and rescue response, crash recovery operation and investigation by the government of Canada took more than four years and cost CA$57 million.[2] The investigation carried out by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) concluded that flammable material used in the aircraft's structure allowed a fire to spread beyond the control of the flight crew, resulting in the crash of the aircraft. Several wide-ranging recommendations were made which were incorporated into newer US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards.[3]: 253
- ^ Pearlstein, Steven (3 September 1998). "SWISSAIR JET CRASHES OFF NOVA SCOTIA". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ "Nova: Crash of Flight 111". PBS.org. Archived from the original on 12 September 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
- ^ "Aviation Investigation Report, In-Flight Fire Leading to Collision with Water, Swissair Transport Limited McDonnell Douglas MD-11 HB-IWF Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia 5 nm SW 2 September 1998" (PDF). Transportation Safety Board of Canada. 27 March 2003. A98H0003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2016.