FIRE onboard!? The nightmare of Swissair 111
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 พ.ย. 2022
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In the middle of the night, high above the Atlantic Ocean, smoke begins to fill the cockpit of a Swissair MD-11. A fire has started, and the pilots try desperately to get their plane back to the airport. Behind them, 227 lives hang in the balance. The pilots race through emergency checklists as conditions in the cockpit deteriorate. In the space above their heads, the fire has started to burn through critical aircraft systems. The First Officer’s instruments go dark, and he has to squint through the smoke to see his tiny backup instruments.
Will the crew be able to get their stricken aircraft to an airport before time runs out?
This is the chilling story, of Swissair flight 111.
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Final Report:
www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-rep...
Livery:
forums.x-plane.org/index.php?...
Plane:
Rotate MD-11
SWR111 picture:
Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland, CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
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Can you do a video on Surinam Airways Flight 764 killing 176 people?
Can you please do a video on PIA flight the latest crash after the runway land in Karachi ?
@@vercetti8670 no
Only if you make a video of every aircraft crash in the game
🎉🎉ĥhgg😂g
One of my friends was on this flight. I’ll never forget my mom calling to tell me. A beautiful soul gone way too soon. RIP Rhonda White Donaldson I still think of you often.
Ow
@@Its_Tyronehes what do you mean?
Sorry to hear that
Very sorry to hear.
Someone dies two times. Once when they stop living and second when nobody remembers them anymore.
Worst part ironically is how amazing the pilots where. They where doomed despite their best efforts
Just imagine the terrible toxic smoke and increasing heat they were in. Horrible
@@berits.2346 Also during the last minutes they were suffering some burnings due to the melting plastic. Terrible.
@@pax6833he literally followed the instructions of how to act during a fire, it's not his fault that the rules were rigged from the start
@@arftrooper44 He was looking for A+ result in a potentially very dangerous situation instead of settling for a B+ (landing heavy with few injured and maybe very few dead) and unfortunately ended up with an F.
Well, the decision to take time to dump fuel was a mistake.
I had always wondered why they didn’t land faster. I appreciate this video because I now know they fought hard to make it back as soon as humanly possible. They were incredibly professional and I have enormous respect and gratitude for them. 😢
I watched this crash from many sources and for the first time i understood.Thank you.Then there was this Air France from Rio to Paris that crashed in Atlantic Ocean!TBH i still enjoy flying,its much safer now!
Why didn’t they use the fire extinguisher to put the fire out? Personally I would have skipped some of the checklists and just landed the thing
@@GuinessOriginal And if you had skipped some of the checklist so would you have crashed the plane.
@@AnjektusStudio right…much better to burn up in the air than to crash land it 😭 ditching it on a river, road or field is better odds than dying in a fire
@@GuinessOriginal Well! 1) from how you are writing so are you not a pilot. And even do I also not a pilot so have I some knowledge to work from. śo 2) It you where Lisening śo had they first of all to mutch fuel. So they if they had tryed to land so would they have been overwigthed. So to remain calm so did they work as they where trained to do. Becouse if you staring to act from emotion in this dition you are going to either make some very poor descition. And 4) landing a plan how are on fire in water are like 99.999% going to result in a situation that every body died. And leading this kind play in a field are also something that you only do in a movie. Becouse if you just hit 2 or 3 stones (that the plane in the Gottröra accident had the luck not to do), so are you going to kill all your passangers. So lets try to stay in the real world and not in a fantasy land. As the narriator was saying at the end. As the fire well had started. To witch the pliots didn't know how big it was untill it was to late. As the (again), was doing as they where trained to do up untill this accident. And that was to keep flying
For some reason this accident has fascinated me more than just about any other. Maybe it's the loss of the flight recorders 6 minutes before impact that did it. I've spent huge amounts of time trying to get as clear a picture of what happened in the last 6 minutes as possible, and I've read the accident report more times than I can remember.
Here are some extra, lesser known details (although 1 and 2 are pretty obvious):
1. The first officer was almost certainly flying around aimlessly, looking for the airport, but couldn't find it, because the navigation equipment failed. The radioes also failed, meaning the controller couldn't give vectors to the airport to the first officer.
2. The plane almost certainly crashed because the first officer became spatially disoriented, as a result of only having a small, poorly-lit backup ADI with which to keep the plane upright. It was obscured by smoke and barely visible. This was probably exacerbated by the shutdown of the number 2 engine a minute before impact, which would have caused a tendency in the plane to roll to the right.
3. The accident report states that one passenger, who was a licensed pilot, was wearing a life vest. Furthermore, media reports state that the first responders at the crash scene found many passengers with life vests on. From this, it's obvious that many passengers knew they were in desperate trouble at the end. Intriguingly, however, the chief flight attendant was not wearing a life vest, suggesting he was not troubled by the situation, at least not enough to put on a life vest.
4. The investigators found melted plastic from the ceiling dripped into some business class seats. This shows that the fire was extremely hot as far back as business class. First and business class passengers would have been the most aware of the severity of the fire, and probably would not have been able to stay in those classes. The Seconds From Disaster episode on the crash depicts a passenger moving towards the back of the plane from first class in the final minutes of the flight. We don't know for sure that this happened, but it seems a very good guess.
5. The investigators found traces of soot on overhead bins as far aft as what they call "manufacturing station 1720", which is almost at the very back of the plane. Clearly, smoke from the fire spread almost all the way to the back of the plane, if not in the cabin itself, then in the attic section above the cabin ceiling. Given that the pilots could smell it when it was in trace amounts and invisible, it seems a near certainty that the passengers could smell it too.
6. The fact that the passengers understood the gravity of the situation, but not the flight attendant, is probably due to two factors: 1) The flight attendant had been told the flight was diverting for smoke in the cockpit. Given that the plane continued flying normally after this, when smoke began entering the cabin, this probably did not trouble him. However, the passengers were not told that smoke was the reason for the diversion. Therefore, when they noticed the smoke, they were realising that it was the problem for the first time. This probably would have represented a rapid escalation in the gravity of the situation in their minds, whereas for the flight attendant, it was just a continuation of what he already knew, and what he understood to not be causing a serious problem. 2) The lights going out. The flight attendants probably would have understood why this happened, and that it resulted from standard procedure. The passengers probably would have perceived it as an equipment failure resulting from the emergency, and a sign that things were serious.
7. Witness reports on the ground indicate that during the last 6 minutes, the cabin lights were on. However, they turned off after the pilots flicked the cabin bus switch. This suggests that the lighting that the ground witnesses saw was in fact the emergency lighting. A failure of the plane's 115 V AC ground service bus (which did occur) would cause the emergency lights to turn on automatically, so this is probably what occurred. However, it is possible that a flight attendant deliberately turned the lights on.
8. Based on heat damage found on the checklist procedures, Admiral Cloudberg has written that the engine fire checklist was opened by the first officer when he shut down the engine. If correct, this suggests that the first officer, despite the fire, had the ability to reach around himself, pull stuff out, and see well enough to do this.
9. The investigators found heat damage on the cockpit oxygen supply. They concluded that the fire probably did not breach the supply, because if it did, the oxygen released would have caused a huge intensification of the fire, one that investigators did not detect or discovery. However, they also concluded that the heat damage was so intense that the supply was about to be breached. Had this happened, the first officer's oxygen supply would have stopped, and he would have been suffocated very quickly. Had the plane not crashed because of spatial disorientation, this would have caused it to crash soon after.
Fascinating points, thank you for this!
@@GreenDotAviation You're welcome :)
On your point number 2) surely if engine number 2 failed, this would cause no particular tendency for the aircraft to bank left or right as this was the rear & centrally mounted engine?
@@itsjoel Yeah it's a good point actually. Air Crash Investigation and Allec Joshua Ibay both put the number two engine under the right wing. I based my comment off that but I could be wrong. In any event, spatial disorientation still ultimately brought down the plane.
Maybe the rotational forces induced by a spinning turbine (like why a helicopter needs a rear propeller) was compensated, and after the engine shutdown the compensation induces a roll?
Even though I knew the outcome of this beforehand, when watching the video, part of me still hoped that just maybe they would be able to land. The pilots were so calm and professional and doing the best they could with the information available to them. It's so sad. Fire on a plane has got to be one of the most terrifying things a pilot might face.
survival instinct trigged
I was not expecting this as a lot of videos I’ve watched tonight had a better out. So sad
Yes for some reason I thought they could pull it out
So sad
This is a particular tough one. Would they have made it if they took action the second they saw the wispy smoke in the beginning? What about if they just started dumping fuel asap? So many if and whatnot.
I've lost 3 friends in this flight. One of them was Mathieu my neighbor and close friend. He went to NY for a week to visit a school. He was 18 or 19 years old back then and had a bright future ahead of him. RIP my friends we'll never forget you.
I'm so sorry.
They died in a horrifying way. I hope they have found peace and I hope their familys can or have. This is literally one of biggest fears. Flying over the ocean , at night with a fire and crashing inverted into the ice cold blackness. I really hope they were incapacitated before that happened. I think their should be some form of drug that flight attendants should give out in cases like this. Valium or Alprazolam or Barbituates. Something that takes a little edge off and maybe even causes people to just pass out.
I'm so sorry for your loss
Mathieu Amposta?
@@maxfullerton5228how could they be given out?? Most times the passanrers are passed out
Man, I wish you had been making these videos a few years ago. My dad passed away from cancer two years ago. For the few months before he died he could never sleep properly so I'd end up staying up most of the night with him watching the flight disaster show on Discovery when ever I was visiting.
He would have fucking loved these videos you're doing now.
When I watch one of your videos it makes me smile thinking about those nights.
Also the job that you're Irish. From Killarney myself.
Anyway, didn't mean for such a long winded comment, just wanted to show my appreciation.
Hi Tim, thank you so much for this heartfelt comment. It's much appreciated. Dia duit from Dublin.
@@GreenDotAviation cheers man. Came across your channel a few weeks ago and I've been making my way through back catalogue. Have a good one
I'm sorry for the loss of your dad.
@@cynthiaholland13 thanks bud
@@timh84 I too am TRULY sorry for the loss. At least u know when u come here u can smile and think about the WONDERFUL times u had with him here on Earth. That's a HUGE comfort in and of itself no doubt! 🤗
Just wanted to tell u that.😉🙏🇮🇪
This and the UPS flight that crashed in dubai are the saddest stories for me. A fire onboard is truly one of the most terrifying things in the world
Yes UPS flight broke my heart!!
yes! i heard the ups story for the first time about two days ago and i honestly think it's one of the saddest plane crashes in recent history, even if the death toll wasn't very high :(
Hell on earth
That one was even scarier. My goodness....
And in both cases there were actions that if taken could have given the pilots (a slim) chance of getting the plane on the ground sooner and potentially surviving.
A fire or blocked pitot tubes while flying at night. The two scariest things to happen to a plane.
I feel like this crash caught me off guard. I had gotten comfortable with the idea of the pilots having the landing under control. I was fooled due to the calmness in the cockpit 🥺
Me too. I thought this was one where they would make it for some reason.
They could sound extremely “calm” but not taking the right action…
@@christopherzhao3135 They took the right actions at the time and even by modern procedure it wouldn't have mattered anyway, they were dead the moment the flight was pushed back which is the saddest part of all
why are you so obsessed trying to fault the pilots in almost every comment?
A friend of mine from college lost her life in this crash. The terror everyone must have experienced. Unimaginable.
Truly terrible but I’d rather this than crash in the Middle of the ocean. 😬I’d honestly “self terminate” if we where going down in the ocean.
Oddly, I too have known people who died in tragically famous plane crashes. I knew a person, from college, who died inthe Pan Am Lockerby Flight in 1988. Also, a friend who I bought my house from was on the Alaska Flight form Mexico that crashed up-side-down off in the Pacific, off the coast of Los Angeles in 2000. I can't imagine the horror and fear these people felt as the all plunged to their deaths .... unspeakable.
@@XGrimzukiX why? still atleast a 40% chance youd still be alive on impact, depending on lots of things but still you have a good chance. as long as you don't put your life vest on in the cabin!
I am very sorry.
@@anthonydavid5121 oh my word so sorry
As the news of this dreadful accident was unfolding, it was about 3am UK time. I was putting on my uniform at home in preparation for the early shift as the Swissair Duty Officer at Manchester Airport.
It was a day I will never forget. The passengers and crew (some who were our frequent flyers and our working colleagues ) are, to this day, often in my thoughts. Together with their families who lost loved ones.
when keepin it real goes wrong lmao
My dad was supposed to be on this flight but had gotten food poisoning a day prior to the flight so he decided to wait until he was better to fly. This saved his life and I am very thankful that he had gotten food poisoning otherwise I wouldn’t be here.
Did he also miss his alarm and fail to show up for work at the World Center on September 11th?
@@Studio732JRL you’re insufferable
Once again NYC street meat saves the day.
Hearing the voices of these pilots, who didn't survive this accident inspite of trying so hard to get the plane down safely, makes me shiver.
This breaks my heart listening to this :( The pilots did everything to try and get the plane to the ground... Massive respect to the british airways 214 and the ATC for trying their best to save a doomed plane. 😢
Yeah, everyone tried, but it wasn't enough :(
Damn, this one was eerie. They were doomed due to entertainment
Now that's some dark entertainment.
I live in Halifax and clearly remember waking up to the morning news on my radio hearing about the crash and for days afterwards. There’s a Swiss Air 111 memorial about a 1/2 hour from where I live and it’s so peaceful and a lovely tribute to those who lost their lives.
This crash is one of those that hit the hardest. So tragic
spoiler alert.....
Well that's an interesting choice of words.
@Frank Martin wouldn't have made a difference. I'm sure they knew that as well. Their best shot was to crash into a field
@@ObiWanCannabi shouldn’t be reading comments, it’s on you
Indeed, this is so terrifying and tragic.
I was a high school student 60 miles away when this happened and remember well how this disaster gripped us all. Folks from the fishing communities nearby raced out to look for survivors and remains. Many were traumatized by what they encountered.
It is often not realized how crashes can affect people not connected to the passengers. For the people around beautiful Peggy's Cove this was horrible.
I was living on Quinpool Road when this happened, we were all very very sad...
Such a sad story, but expertly told. RIP to all involved.
This incident changed the rules for aviation. Instead of going through check lists and dumping fuel they should have made an overweight landing. Since the accident investigation any indication of smoke or fire the aircraft must land immediately at the nearest suitable airport no matter the weight.
I had a smoke fire situation not long after this... I said fuck checklists, fuck delay.. I immediately did an emergency descent even over speed the plane, and got cleared to land at the nearest airport (Columbia MO) by the center controller.. we all lived.
Smart
Wow, glad it all went well 😌
What aircraft type was this?
@@Michael-gs2uq MD11... edit, oh you mean in my incident? It was a CE750 ... I would end up flying the MD11 later however as well as 12 different other types.
Good call
As an engineer myself, I try to put myself in the position of the engineers designing these systems. I’ve often thought that pressurized fire suppression canisters throughout the service areas of the plane would be a good idea. You could seal them with a melt plug similar to sprinkler systems. Fire melts the plug, releasing the suppression material. It would add a few hundred lbs to the plane, but that’s weight well spent in my opinion.
Plane weight is measured in hundreds of tons, so even if it wasn't lifesaving weight I bet some could be convinced that it's not too big a deal
Yep. Google firetrace
Yes, pressurized fire suppression in the inaccesible service areas should be on all these commercial passengers aircraft, as well as camera for the pilots to view areas of the plane that they can't see from the cockpit like the tail area, the wings, the landing gear, etc... The extra weight would be negligible.
The trouble here really was the false certification of mylar as fireproof. otherwise it would never have gone into the plane. the simply botched the tests, and as usual the faa did not catch it. a simple electrical fire would have never brought down a plane this fast. and everything else was based on the assumption. if you look up smoke/fumes incidents, there are a lot actually.
The cargo hold in airliners have fire suppression sprinklers so why not the passenger cabin?
We lived above a Swissair Maitre d'Cabine in Wallisellen who trained some of the crew who died.
Even 3 years later you could see the sadness in her eyes.
Everyone knows Everyone in Switzerland.
This disaster deeply shocked Everyone
I kniw it's of little use, but Peggy's cove, where the plane went down, is the most beautiful grave.
@@berits.2346 No its a comforting gesture
I live here, yet dont know "everyone", no one from that accident anyway!
RIP
To the passengers and crew of Swissair Flight 111
Thank you for including what changed after this crash, because it's easy to always go 'oh no but what if my plane catches on fire like this???' but knowing how much they changed and that materials are changed and checklists are changed eases my fears.
Being Canadian, I remember this horrible tragedy like it was yesterday. It was huge news all across the country. May the memories of all those onboard be a blessing to all their loved ones. Thank you for the great work!
I have so much more respect for pilots after discovering this great channel.... The amount of information they need to gather and process is unbelievable and one or many small mistakes they are doomed.
I'm suffering from crash investigation burnout but your videos always entertain... I think it's your writing style/pacing
Glad you’re enjoying the vids 🙌
I’m not even an airplane enthusiast whatsoever, but I love learning the science behind the technical aspects of flying an aircraft. That’s what attracted me to this channel and grateful for it 😊
Me too. I feel a bit more knowledgeable after consuming a lot of this content. If I ever doubted how incredible pilots are I have been disabused of that notion.
Fire/smoke would have to be my greatest fear of any midair emergency! Well done, another great video!
Mine too!
*Real Facts on the nightmarish disaster of SWR111:*
24:57 - *Honorable Mention: When declaring an emergency, Captain Zimmerman and First Officer Lowe both keyed their mics and spoke at the same time.*
1. First Officer Lowe for sure had no instruments during the last 10 seconds to impact, as it was found by the TSB that the red warning flags on the backup attitude indicators were fully extended, indicating that the backup indicator had stopped working. Though he may not have been able to read the indicator while it was working, he could see well enough to pull out checklists and flip switches (to shut down the Number 2 engine). It was scorching hot in the flight deck.
First Officer Lowe was surely in pain. It was found that the headsets and checklists had melted before the plane crashed, and as we know, skin burns before plastic. Even though F/O Lowe may have been in excruciating pain, he tried to the best of his abilities to get the aircraft to Halifax. Most likely, Captain Zimmerman, trying to fight the fire, was overcome by the heat and smoke. It was also likely that he stayed alive until the moment of impact, as he had the checklist that First Officer Lowe would have needed to shut down the engine.
2. First and Business class passengers were definitely aware of the severity of the fire as burning/melted plastic had fallen into the seats of those classes. Passengers could smell (and most likely see) the smoke right up until the moment of impact, as by that point, smoke had consumed the entire upper attic area of the aircraft.
3. Witness reports on the ground indicated that during the last 6 minutes of the flight, the cabin lights were on. However, as we know already, they "turned off" after the pilots used the cabin bus switch. This tells us that the lighting the ground witnesses saw was in fact most likely the emergency lighting. A failure of the plane's 115 V AC ground service bus, which did coincidentally occur, would cause the emergency lights to turn on automatically, so this is probably what occurred. However, it is possible that a flight attendant deliberately turned the lights on.
4. A lot of the circuits in the aircraft were destroyed, most notably to the CVR, FDR, and main PFD instruments. The circuits for the cancellation of the autopilot disconnection warbler was also cut, so they were hearing that warbler tone right up until the moment of impact, as evidenced by the ATC audio heard at 24:26.
"Ah Swissair one-eleven, at the time we must fly ah manually. Are we cleared to fly between ah ten thou...eleven thousand and niner thousand feet?" ((autopilot disconnection warbler))
5. The aircraft entered the water at a very steep bank angle, which was estimated to be between 70-110 degrees right bank at a negative 20 degree aircraft nose down pitch angle. Any longer and First Officer Lowe most likely would have inverted the aircraft. The aircraft decelerated with a force of 345 g and shattered into 2 million pieces, literally.
5 was probably the best outcome in that situation. Quick and painless for passengers.
So heartbreaking
@@Annihilation99 unfortunately they probably still suffered earlier from smoke inhalation and all that heat
One of the key factors which caused the situation to deteriorate so quickly was the fact that disabling the cabin bus switch had an unexpected side effect. This action turned off the recirculation fans above the business class galley and unfortunately changed the airflow characteristics in a way that smoke and combustion by-products were sucked towards the cockpit rather than into the cabin and away from the pilots and critical wiring.
Very good video as always! I would love to have some more time spent talking about the technical aspects of crashes and the investigation, but I totally understand that all of this information can‘t be fitted within 30 or so minutes. Thank you for you effort :)
Yes, it’s not clear from the final report whether they would have been able to fly for longer had the recirculation fans been kept on, but it seems possible that it may have bought them a few more seconds or even minutes.
I’d love to have included more info on the investigation as well, but as you say, there’s only so much you can fit in 30 mins.
No exaggeration, you are the BEST aviation channel I've ever ran into.
What makes your channel unique is how you structure your videos and especially the renders you put out. Most other channels read off of a paper with no informative renders to illustrate what had happened, but you took care of that, which is why your channel is the best.
Keep up the good work, and definitely keep the videos coming.
You should watch mentour pilot. His videos are also well structure, with time stamps, and explains everything in great detail
Agree. Mentour Pilot is great
Agree. Mentour Pilot is great
I love the dramatic/foreboding music as well. Just a professional job through and through
I was flying home to Glasgow via London from Boston that evening 😞
I remember landing at Heathrow and many flights were cancelled/delayed. I didn't know then that a plane had crashed on the same Atlantic crossing and at the same time. Chilled my bones 😞
I've been binging through your channel the last day or two, glad I came across it, I've got a healthy fascination with aviation disasters and enjoy your takes on them!
I'm glad!
Green Dot Aviation is easily one of the best sources of detailed comprehensible analyses of aircraft accidents and incidents.
same here
My stepfather was a small part of one of the several investigative agencies that looked at the wiring of this accident.
I knew of the broad strokes that painted this story, but I like the nuance that your channel brings.
It's truly edifying and makes it that much more real to me.
This exact thing happened to me once. I was flying with Swiss from NY to Zürich after a business meeting. Around 1.00 AM as we where 1/3 over the Atlantic there was a smell of smoke from electric components. The flight attendants looks very worried and the captain made an announcement that we had a technical issue with he aircraft and that we would do an emergency landing in Halifax. Lets say everyone was paying attention!! Even I who is not easily worried got a bit concerned. Half way to Halifax the captain made another announcement saying that the smoke had come from one of the entertainment screens and it was now turned off. We would now instead go back to NY as it was a better airport for us to land on. Halifax was closed. We landed without any problems but it was not fun to wait for Swiss to get us another aircraft.
That is really eerie considering the context. Did this happen before or after this incident?
@@autoteleology Since he's referring to "Swiss" airline, I would guess after. Swissair was re-founded as Swiss in 2002 after bankruptcy.
When did it happen?
I was on an MD 11 with KLM from Vancouver to Amsterdam. First time I flew with the entertainment system on the backside of the seat infront of me. Previously on the DC 10 they had the screen on the bulkhead. On this 9 hour flight the the entertainment system was not working.
This was about a year before Swiss Air 111 came down.
I don’t feel sorry for you having to wait. All your waiting could have been over for good. I’m glad you got to wait. God bless you.
I've never heard that BAW 214 weather conversation! Thankyou for informing me about this, and omg did those BAW pilots feel weird when they realised the Swiss pilots fate.
What pros they were at BA.
According to archive logs, BA214 was operated by a 747-100 G-AWNC that night.
@@ahm_767Wow, that was my first ever BA 747-100: to BOS in 1989
Yes, I'd never heard that BA weather talk either. Yes, they must have been chilled. Amazing how much of 111 wreckage they recovered. Excellent video.
Deciding to dump fuel and not land is something I’ll never understand
@@BB-xx3dv There was a whole 21 minutes between the flight crew detecting the smoke and the crash occurring. Plenty of time to make an emergency landing. They should have taken it a lot more seriously.
The final report said they would not have had time to get it on the ground even if they had gone direct Halifax at the first indication of smoke. They were let down by the checklist/IFE electrical modification. We now have a single smoke, fire, fumes checklist that hopefully will trap the problem, while we are doing an emergency diversion. I wouldn’t be delaying a landing. I’d rather go off the end at 40kts than burn in the air. Such a sad case. We have learnt a lot, as an industry, from this case but it still haunts most pilots.
I have been flying since 1978. Inflight fires are an extremely rare but serious situation. With a confirmed fire on an aircraft, getting on the ground fast is a priority. Condensation issues at high altitudes are rare. At first indication of smoke, proceed to the nearest suitable airport.
And get your cabin crew to use a fire extinguisher.
Great episode. ATC communications were chilling. You should cover the incident about UPS Flight 6. That was a terrifyingly tragic incident with the captain incapacitated and the co-pilot flying in a smoke filled cockpit.
this accident happened when i was 19 and living in New York. it triggered a fear of flying that lasted 20 years! i spent many nights imagining what happened. no one my family knew was on the airplane but they could have been since we were expats and knew people who worked for the UN. we could have been on it... i think that's what haunted me the most. so terrible what the pilots must have gone through in the last minutes when the whole cockpit was burning 😔
In Switzerland every year on the 2nd of September we have „a minute of silence“ for the victims of Swissair 111
This is the year I emigrated to Switzerland, just short of 2 months before this crash happened. At the school someone called me Halifax as a nickname (cuz of my initials H.F. and my name sounds a bit like it) and I did not understand what Halifax meant or was. It was not until many many years later I saw a documentary of this crash on TH-cam and the realization of what Halifax meant more than a decade later was heartbreaking.
cool story bro
What do you think Halifax means?
This is one of the crashes that spooks me the most. The absolute devastation that a loose fire can cause onboard a vehicle stuck in the air. Every second is the most precious of your life.
This was more terrifying than any horror movie
One of those tragic crashes that has had a significant effect on aviation, making it safer.
Best discussion of this incident I've ever seen! Great channel and wonderful work! Thanks!
Thank you! 🙏🏼
From the cockpit voice recordings you can tell that the pilote were incredibly calm and collected throughout the whole fiasco. It's awful how all their attempts and efforts went in vain. 😔😔 Heartfelt respect for them for how efficient and professional they were and how they never gave up. Rip to all the good souls onboard!
Perhaps you meant the ATC recordings. The actual cockpit voice recordings never got released to the public. Under Canadian law these are protected from ever getting released.
I remember that flight well. I had just returned from Nova Scotia one month previously and had spent alot of time at Peggy's cove, and when I heard of the crash, my first though was "they have the most beautiful grave".I know this is of little comfort to the bereaved. but it's still my opinion.
I was living in Halifax and playing solitaire after the kids were in bed when I heard a loud WHOOSH! and my apartment and the entire building shook. It wasn't raining so I knew it wasn't thunder. It wasn't until the morning when I turned on the news that I realized I had 'felt' a plane crash. 😥
Oh, my.
The plane crashed over the ocean, isn't it?
@@aravindkramesh Yes but it was only a few miles away from the shore. The impact created a series of sound and air waves that shook the coastal vicinity.
Oh no 😢
My wife was crossing the MacDonald bridge when this mist was on the windshield and it wasn't raining. It must have been from the fuel dump.
I live in the area. I remember this. We have a memorial here, the community keeps it clean and tidy, relatives of the passengers sometimes visit, I believe.
Ive always hated this story. Its heartbreaking. The dedicated and amazing flight crew did everything right. Time just wasnt on their side.
Probably the best presentation of this tragedy I've seen. Sad stuff. I worked on aircraft for 23 yrs in the USAF and dealt many times with "Smoke in the cockpit" write-ups. We went to elaborate lengths to find the cause each and every single time!
In all the videos I've ever seen about this wreck, and I've seen many, no one has mentioned that painting. As an art lover that makes this this wreck even more tragic to me. Thanks for including that information.
I’m dying to know what painting was on there!
@@marycyr1668 i believe it was “Le Peintre.” i think photos exist of it, and i believe a very very small piece may have been recovered after the crash. other art has been lost in plane crashes. i believe there was a varig flight that lost a bunch of works by a japanese painter.
Easily most comprehensive video on this flight, truly excellent. Exceedingly professional pilotage; tragic the cards were stacked against them.
This one gave me secondhand anxiety. Incredibly tragic story. Great work.
Noting your comments at the end, I still can't help but wonder why, given that the captain decided to leave his seat to fight the fire, he did so with the qrh and not the extinguisher just nearby..
Such great pilots. Very unfair situation. RIP to all on board and to the Picasso.
Ask any pilot. What is their worst nightmare during flight? They will say, "fire onboard."
Duh no shit
@@captainquark9116calm down
I can't imagine just existing in such a hell scenario, much less controlling the plane. What a hook! This video is one of your best. It's a shame they weren't able to make it to the airport
The most humble crew members. My thoughts are with them.
I’ve rewatched this a couple of times now. I think it’s your best one yet, closely matched by the American 965 episode. As someone else commented, it’s the “creeping tension” that you excel at building, as well as creating a sort of empathy or relatability with the pilots, esp in these episodes where you get the sense it could happen to any one of us.
I think you might be interested in the 1995 Ansett New Zealand 703 Dash 8 crash. There’s a book and an Air Crash Investigation episode on it. A classic Swiss cheese case.
Thank you very much for this feedback! It's interesting for me to know what aspects of the videos people enjoy.
I'll definitely look into the 1995 crash - appreciate the recommendation.
What a tragedy, I flew from NewYork to Zurich in a Swissair DC-10 years earlier and I wasn’t crazy about the idea of crossing a huge body of water like the Atlantic in a plane with a such a checkered past. I took some comfort in the fact it was Swissair and I think their safety record was unblemished at that time.
I'm so confused by this comment. When was it unblemished and when was it checkered??
@@ErinJeanette I’m not here to give you a report. If you’re so confused, why don’t you google it and find out for yourself because you shouldn’t take anyone’s word for it without independent verification anyway.
@@ErinJeanette The DC-10 has been involved in loads of crashes and issues over the years. Perfectly reasonable to be uneasy flying in a plane that has been known for that
This is tough. I’m rather familiar with it so I almost passed on this one. It bothers me.
But I knew I’d learn things I didn’t know. So I watched it. And I did learn things I didn’t know.
It must be hard carving out an art style while also being mindful of the realities of such tragedies. But you’ve really evolved in your writing and story telling, the small additions add up and it shows in the creeping tension you build and finally cut. I’ve never been interested in planes but you’ve sold me on them, they are uniquely fascinating. I really respect the work that goes into your channel and am super excited to see where you take it ❤❤Also I want baseball hat merch
I live here, all the fishermen have carried ptsd since that night, will not talk about what they saw. Same for a the people in the reserves and military members at Shearwater. There have been many talks about what was on that plane. Fishermen, Lobster fishermen and scuba divers were all made to stay away from that area for quite a while. I worked at a near by Tims, we sent hot drinks and sandwhiches, muffins, donuts for the searchers and the family who came to see the area. I remember seeing their devastated faces on the bus. We all hold that area off Bayswater as a sacred site.
These 'smoke of unknown origin' checklists, are really for use when an immediate landing is impossible- mid Atlantic for example. They have their place, but really, if the thing's gone on fire near an Airport, land it immediately. Swissair 111 taught us all this one thing in the hardest way.
Something weird happens when watching the video with closed captioning. There is a section after take-off where CC subtitles race like crazy - as if parts of the video have been cut but the subtitles are still present.
Yep.
''In other words the passengers could not be in more safe hands''
Famous last words before disaster
Well, it's an air disaster channel.
Found your channel last week and already watched every video! Your content is great for all audiences and I love your documentary style videos. Keep up the great work man and stay consistent and you'll be big in no time.
Thank you for the kind words! More vids on the way 😄
I live in Nova Scotia, and my dad was in Tantallon packing for a trip to Toronto the time it crashed.
He described it as the loudest explosion ever, and he has never heard a louder sound. And, it was Upper Tantallon too, which means it was so loud it reached near Head of Saint Margaret's.
This is one of the most emotionally charged channels on TH-cam. Those poor people never had a chance. 😭
Why isn't seeing smoke in a plane is a instant mayday? In the last couple of months i went through countless accident videos from multiple youtube channels and it always baffles me the sheer negligence. If people were oblivious of them being in the air, any issue could be disastrous.
Agreed.
Smoke means fire. Land as soon as possible.
First sign of smoke,I'd of swung that thing around and made straight for the airport,even on an overspeed.
Forget the checklist in those situations.
A truly horrific situation for a flight crew to find themselves in. I can’t imagine how terrifying those last few moments would have been. 😔
Love your channel. Thanks for sharing this terrifying story.
the FO should have handed the controls back to the captain the moment is display failed and taken over the captain's duties
Yes, but it would not have mattered.
My brother in law and his buddy assisted with the early recovery with their charter boat.
I was working at Pearson airport that night. I remember being told about the crash.
Imagine boarding a plane and hearing this green dot aviation theme music playing in a backround 😂
😂😂
*Bruh sound effect*
Guess i am gonna die haha
And you realise you can't cancel your ticket now
Very comprehensive videos. Thank you.
Swiss air was one that always stuck in my mind.
Some sources indicate that there was a dispute between the pilot and his first officer, the latter wanted to land immediately and they were actually too close to the runway before the pilot decided to dump the fuel.
Had they landed at the first shot they could've saved the plane.
In fact, landing heavy was perfectly ok by Swissair and MD in case of emergencies and the pilots were perfectly trained to do so.
The lesson here is: following procedures too meticulously could get you killed, sometimes your instincts are your strongest asset.
Great video as always 👍👍
Actually, the final report showed that by the time the pilots saw the smoke, it was already too late. The fact that they dumped fuel made no difference in this case.
@@GreenDotAviation also landing at night with the issue of the plane that is on fire and has systems that are slowly dying makes it even more unlikely they could get the plane on the runway.
@@GreenDotAviation Correct! When I first read the report I had a feeling the fuel dump delay wasn't going to change things, sadly true.
@@GreenDotAviation absolutely not true…they had time since first smelling smoke..
@@GreenDotAviation thanks for the answer. I'd like to add that Swissair had really difficult last days and declared bankruptcy shortly after, in fact pilots had to walk around with briefcases filled with cash to pay for fuel on the spot because fueling companies weren't supplying them anymore.
Regarding the entertainment system, sources indicate that it wasn't even worth it, financially speaking, because first class customers at the time weren't too excited over paying for extra features and especially electronic gambling onboard.
I like the fact that you've mentioned that the system was mounted on the primary cockpit electric system, this was a huge mistake caused by the poor design and rushed execution, they discovered they couldn't get it to work otherwise according to sources.
What a sad sad tragedy anyway, keep up the great work 👍
I think the insulation was not Mylar, it was Kapton. The same stuff used for turkey cooking bags. Kapton can tolerate very high temperature, however it wasn't known at the time that it could be spark-tracked on and on and then ignite other items by the electrical spark. Thousands of planes had to be rewired to remove this fire hazard, including Air Force One planes.
For people living in Nova Scotia Canada the weekend of Sept 1st to Sept 3rd 2023 marks 25 years since the Crash of Swiss Air Flight 111 in waters off of Peggy's Cove. Thankyou to emergency services, Canadian Forces, and all first responders in Nova Scotia who faced this tragedy with such courage and professionalism. Families across North America and Europe will be remembering this time of sorrow. May the souls of all who perished rest in peace and may light perpetual shine upon them. Amen. We also remember those who suffered PTSD as a result of their work and volunteering during this time twenty five years ago.
One of best most detailed narrative of this tragic event. National Geographic didn't even include so much detail 👏🙌 Thank you for the amazing video!
Great job covering the cabin bus IFEN isolation issue that is glazed over or not mentioned at all in documentaries I have seen on this accident, despite being a likely contributor to the accident.
may they all rest in peace
Waiting to board Swiss Air while watching this. The inflight entertainment better be good.
Also I'm thinking back to AC797 and the fact they got the plane on the ground, and yet, people died when they opened the doors as well, that was smoke of unknown origin too, and they did land. So even if they did land it's not a silver bullet that it'd have led to more survival however
Oh boy how I have been waiting for a new vid to drop! Defo my favorite creator at the moment. Much love from Latvia.
Thanks for the kind words! Lots more videos coming, stay tuned 😎
I remember this being one of the first episodes of Air Crash Investigation (the one that was shown on Nat Geo) that I watched, and I was scared shitless...
I really appreciate your paced out narration and the topical pauses you take.. for the focus (of the viewers) to shift to the animation or video instead.
.
And tragic as this is.. it is some solace that this loss brought to fore yet another 'oops sorry, did we miss that?' moments to fore.
I've seen other films of this sad event. I don't know why but this one really I find quite upsetting. The calmness and professionalism of the ATC and pilots talking, not realising just how bad things were. Fire on a plane is just unimagineable.
Well pilots figured it was bad and they had a little to no chance to survive. Nevertheless they kept their calm and flew the doomed aircraft until they couldn't. That's what makes it more sad that how amazingly professional they were but nothing could save them.
Well when the fire started to burn into the cockpit, that’s when the pilots (likely) realized how fucked they were.
love your channel, keep up the great work
Thanks so much!
Sometimes you do everything right in response to a bad situation and it still isn't enough.
Well there were some critical errors by the pilots, but even if they done legit everything right (by today‘s checklists), they wouldn’t have made it regardless. No matter what they would have done, they wouldn’t have been able to make a safe landing. From the moment the smoke came the first time, they were doomed before they even knew… and that part is just scary to think about
I was thirteen when this tragedy happened. We were in the States for vacation and had flown from ZRH to JFK the week before with the Swissair MD11. I was devastated when I saw it on the news. We flew back a week after the crash from JFK to ZRH and I was so scared we would crash also. I remember the flight attendant as I was watching her for clues if everything was ok. She was so relaxed and friendly and even gave us croissants from business class. It must have been hard for them, knowing a week prior your fellow crew and collagues died in the very same plane. This tragedy has always haunted me. Thank you for this great video and your hard work. I am so sorry for everyone that lost a loved one.
I recently saw this documentary about the disaster and one of the people who was interviewed was a flight attendant on another Swissair flight. (I believe this plane was about 20 minutes behind flight 111) Anyway, this flight attendant said she and her colleagues were quite devastated by the news, and that it took a lot of effort to remain composed. It was only once the passengers were off, that she and her fellow crewmembers could finally let their emotions out
It seems like the check lists ended up killing this flight
plane is burning up yet they took sweet time fiddling around in the sky
I didn't know the Swiss had an Air Force, that said, they trained those two pilots well. Those Swiss Air 111 pilots did their country and passengers proud. At least the relatives of the deceased can know that the pilots did everything possible to save the plane.
Great documantary. I am very familiar with this incident.. it's always good to see different versions. This is very detailed and neatly layed out in such a short time frame. Keep up the great work.