Swissair Flight 111 Crash Resolved

CBC News: Report clears pilots in Swissair crash

I remember the Swissair crash very well. It happened in Peggy’s Cove on September 2, 1998 exactly 2 days after Carol and I had been there on the first leg of our honeymoon as we had been married in Bridgewater, NS on August 29th 1998.

It was a horrible crash and I remember even the Nova Scotia coroner being traumatized by the mass of 229 bodies torn to bits. Even some of my mother’s friends heard the crash as far away as Mahone Bay. They still talk about it. (Real Audio runs 3:31)

As Carol and I were leaving Halifax a few days later we were stuck in the middle of an Air Canada pilots’ strike and all the coverage of the disaster. We saw CNN and other world news oraganizations at the airport. As well, from the gate we were leaving by, the Premier of Nova Scotia at the time awaiting the arrival of the families of the air crash victims along with ministers of various faiths. It was kind of disturbing seeing families clearly distraught at the loss of loved ones exiting a Swissair jet at the gate we were just about to leave by. I really didn’t want to fly that day.

We have since returned and found that residents of the Peggy’s Cove area have built monuments to the victims of the tragedy. The most moving of which was a solemn mass grave with a granite wall memorializing the people who died.

Finally the investigation is complete recommendations have been made and people can truly put this horrific event behind them.