The Mystery of Lost Diamonds: Swiss Air Flight 111

On the night of September 2, 1998,  Swiss Air flight 111 crashed into the Atlantic near a small fishing township in Canada. The plane hit the water, on impact killing all the 229 souls on board. With the tragedy after 22 years, the mystery of the staggering loss of 5kg worth of diamonds and jewels, A Picasso worth about millions, and 50kg in cash remains.

The MD-11 (HB-IWF) took off at 8:18 pm from New York, United States heading to Geneva, Switzerland. Just an hour after takeoff, the pilots reported smoke in the cockpit coming through the air conditioning system. After redirecting to the Halifax airport in Canada, the crew requested permission to land.

Due to the weight of the MD-11, the pilots took a detour to dump fuel to reduce the overall load, Not realising the gravity of the situation, the flight instruments began to fail with smoke gradually filling the cockpit. Without any visibility, it was merely impossible to fly the plane manually. The communication with Halifax airport ended 6 minutes after the impact in the Atlantic, 8 km away from Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, A small rural active fishing community.

With about 98% aircraft retrieved by a special ship with an inbuilt vacuum, the rescue operation ended in December 1999. All the 229 souls on board were eventually identified, 2 million pieces of debris, and 275 km of electrical wiring recovered. But the valuables worth $528 million were never mentioned or even recovered to date.

The exhibition diamond being shipped to Europe, bound for the U.S Bank in Geneva and the jewelry, was contained in a one-meter high aluminum container with reinforced walls along with 49kg of banknotes, according to the author of the book Flight 111, A year in the life of a tragedy.

Moreover, according to the documentary producer John Chishom, said although the diving around the wreckage had been officially banned, it would be possible for the public to obtain trove licenses for the other nearby shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean. 

With roughly 10000 shipwrecks along the Nova Scotia coastline and the sentimental value, the crash site holds, it is still irresistible for treasure hunters to search for the million-dollar bounty.

Although after 4 and a half years of investigation by the Transport Safety Board of Canada (TSB), It was concluded that the fuse above the cockpit connected to the in-Flight Entertainment system had blown, causing the flammable insulation material to spread beyond the crew's control. Moreover, with the downturn of the aviation market after 9/11, the heavily indebted Swiss Air filed for bankruptcy in 2002. 

Among the various uncertain events and mysteries in the world. We may never know what exactly occurred on the night of 2nd September 1998 or where the diamonds are, But the case of Swiss Air flight 111 is yet to be solved. 

References 

SwissInfo.ch 2018, The Swissair flight 111 crash: causes and consequences, Viewed on 3rd October 2020