Swissair
Swissair, S.A./AG (German: Schweizerische Luftverkehr-AG; French: Société Anonyme Suisse pour la Navigation Aérienne) was for many years the national airline of Switzerland.
It was formed from a merger between Balair and Ad Astra Aero (To the Stars), in 1931. For most of its 71 years, Swissair was one of the major international airlines and known as the "Flying Bank" due to the financial stability of the airline, causing it to be regarded as a Swiss national symbol and icon. The airline thrived into the 1980s, when it was one of the "Seven Sisters" of Western European commercial aviation. It was headquartered at Zurich Airport and in Kloten.
In 1997 the Swissair Group was renamed SAirGroup (although it was again renamed Swissair Group in 2001), with four subdivisions: SAirlines (to which Swissair, Crossair, Balair and FlightLease belonged), SAirServices, SAirLogistics and SAirRelations.
Burdened by over-expansion due to the controversial “Hunter Strategy” in the late 1990s and after the economic downturn following the September 11 attacks, Swissair’s assets dramatically lost value, grounding the already-troubled airline in October 2001. The airline was kept alive until 31 March 2002 by the Swiss Federal government.
Swissair Flight 111
Swissair Flight 111 (SR111, SWR111) was a Swissair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on a scheduled airline flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States to Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland. This flight was also a codeshare flight with Delta Air Lines.
On Wednesday, 2 September 1998, the aircraft used for the flight, registered HB-IWF, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Halifax International Airport at the entrance to St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia. The crash site was 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from shore, roughly equidistant from the tiny fishing and tourist communities of Peggys Cove and Bayswater. All 229 people on board died—the highest death toll of any aviation accident involving a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 and the second-highest of any air disaster to occur in Canada, after Arrow Air Flight 1285. This is one of only two hull losses of the passenger configured MD-11, along with China Airlines Flight 642, and one of three MD-11 accidents with passenger fatalities along with Flight 642 and China Eastern Airlines Flight 583.
