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Swiss Air flight aborts takeoff from JFK, safely leaves minutes later... A Swiss Air flight traveling from New York City to Zurich last week had to abort takeoff, averting a "potentially dangerous situation," the airline confirmed. Flight LX17 from John F. Kennedy Airport left the gate at 4:21 p.m. April 17, according to FlightAware. The aircraft was cleared for takeoff at the same time an air traffic controller on another frequency cleared four other jets to cross the runway, according to audio obtained by NPR. "Due to the high level of situational awareness and quick reaction of our crew, a...

A Swiss International Air Lines flight made an unexpected landing in Iqaluit Wednesday due to a technical problem. The Boeing 777, carrying 216 passengers and 17 crew members, was en route to Los Angeles from Zurich.

OTTAWA (CP) - After years of legal skirmishes, Canadians can finally hear the gripping soundtrack for one of the country's worst aviation disasters. The Swissair Flight 111 air traffic control tapes, kept under lock and key since the 1998 tragedy, have been released to The Canadian Press following a tortuous court battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. The hours of recordings include 12 critical minutes, starting as the aircrew reports smoke in the cockpit and ending with a last desperate transmission as the aircraft nose dives at high speed into St. Margaret's Bay, N.S.,...

Five years ago tonight, a SwissAir MD-11 crashed off the coast of Nova Scotia. The cause of the crash was later determined to be an electrical problem, started by faulty wiring in the entertainment systems in first class. Not long into the flight, transmissions from the cockpit indicated trouble, as the pilot first asked to turn around for a landing at Boston, and then realizing how serious the problem had become, requested an emergency landing at Halifax. They never made it. Six minutes after the last word from the cockpit, the plane crashed into the Atlantic near the little fishing...

Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has completed one of the most thorough aircraft accident investigations ever undertaken with a final briefing on the downing of Swissair Flight 111. Over the last four years, the TSB's activities have led to the removal of one type of flammable acoustic insulation from most transport aircraft and to dozens of safety recommendations dealing with electrical system certification, pilot training and aircraft component fire testing. In the end, the TSB determined the Swissair crew was dealing with confusing cues and a hidden fire that propagated fast enough to overwhelm their generally appropriate decision-making. Nevertheless, it...

Entertainment system contributed to Swissair crash By ALISON AULD Swissair crash report, closure for victim's sister HALIFAX (CP) - Wiring that powered a controversial entertainment system combined with highly flammable insulation to feed a deadly fire that brought down Swissair Flight 111 off Nova Scotia in 1998, investigators said Thursday. In releasing its final report into the country's longest and costliest accident investigation, the Transportation Safety Board didn't identify the exact source of a fire that caused a massive electrical failure on the MD-11, but concluded it was linked to the improperly installed gaming system. The 338-page document outlined a...