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Crash of Flight 111

On the evening of September 2, 1998, a Swissair MD-11 jet bound from New York to Geneva diverted to Halifax, Nova Scotia, after the crew smelled smoke in the cockpit. Just minutes from the airport, Flight 111 plunged into the ocean, killing all 229 people aboard. “Crash of Flight 111″ tells the behind-the-scenes story of the quest for the cause of this tragic accident.

NOVA was given unprecedented access to one of the most intricate aviation investigations ever mounted, which cost $39 million, took more than four years, and involved a seemingly hopeless search for evidence among two million pieces of debris scattered across the seafloor. Through painstaking detective work, investigators eventually pinned the cause of the accident to a chain of events set off by conditions that still exist on many planes today.

After what appeared to be a minor smoke problem developed aboard Flight 111, the pilots headed for the nearest airport, Halifax International, for a nonemergency landing. On approach, they decided it would be safer if they first dumped fuel over the ocean in order to lighten the aircraft.

Matters grew rapidly worse. As the plane turned away from the airport, the autopilot mysteriously disconnected. Then something apparently catastrophic happened that caused both pilots simultaneously to declare an emergency. Seconds later controllers lost contact with the plane. Six minutes after that, residents along St. Margaret’s Bay near Peggy’s Cove heard Flight 111 hit the water and disintegrate.

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  1. Video unavailable.

  2. Ha ha. ..you ARE a sausage. ..ha ha. ..=D

  3. When the governments hides, covers up, or deny’s factual in your face we are not stupid stuff, it is not one documentary that usually opens ones eyes, or changes their minds it is several of them. When documentary’s are filled with actual scientific facts, or actual live proof or anything that backs up what they are sharing 100%. I will believe what to me is proven. The government preys on our ignorance and vulnerability and have been forever, But with modern day technology, the ability to collect data, and those willing to not only research, and question, but are also willing to share with us their findings is the best thing that could happen for us. Thanks to all of you who do this for us.

  4. 36 million for an investigation that took 4 years….14 million for the 9/11 investigation, 4 years after the fact, and completed in months….hmmm

    • I was looking to see if anyone shared the same thought process about this and the Sept 11 tragedies. It’s nice to see that not everyone has the wool pulled over their eyes. I was floored to hear how long and how much Canada spent on the investigation. It’s sad when you realise how much our government hides from us and how much they actually have their fingers in incidents like Sept 11. Until we stand up to the government and lessen their roles in our daily lives, we are going to keep getting screwed! Keep your eyes opened and your ears cleaned out so you can get out of the fire before you get burned!! Peace

  5. I’m not sure that the unqualified should be allowed to cast dispersion upon a subject they value purely based upon a ‘documentary’. Perhaps these geniuses aren’t appreciate of what science actually represents i.e. what they care to dismiss offhand?

  7. No you eat sausage!

  8. I think I rather agree with the previous comment about this video. Perhaps this highly contrived source of the fire was more to assuage the public and victims’ families’ “need to know” than actually finding out what caused the fire.

  9. Finding a needle in a haystack is one thing, but purporting to know where the needle was is a completely burned haystack is quite another. This is cowboy science like nothing else.