Swissair

Aviation officials in Washington banned U.S. airlines from installing in Boeing MD-11 planes the type of in-flight entertainment system that was in a Swissair plane that crashed last year off Nova Scotia. The Federal Aviation Administration order is a preemptive action, since only 15 MD-11s have the system and Swissair owns them all. The order highlights lingering questions about the safety of systems installed after an aircraft leaves the assembly plant.

A treasure trove worth millions of dollars could well be sitting on the ocean floor, buried alongside the mangled wreckage of Swissair Flight 111, authorities said in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The valuables, including diamonds, jewels, millions of dollars in cash and the Picasso painting "The Painter," worth an estimated $1.5 million, were on their way to Geneva when the jet crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 2, killing all 229 people aboard.

Swiss air force officials have halted some military exercises pending an investigation of the near-collision of a fighter jet and a Swissair plane with more than 110 people on board. The Swiss air force Tiger jet came within 165 feet of the A-310-200 Airbus near the border with France on Thursday, said air force spokesman Hans-Rudolf Haeberli. The planes were flying at 19,800 feet in clear weather about 8:45 a.m., officials said.

Radio communication between the crew of Swissair Flight 111 and air traffic controllers ended abruptly in the midst of preparations for an emergency landing, and the aircraft plunged into the Atlantic Ocean six minutes later, air safety investigators said Saturday. "We have to land immediately" were the last words transmitted by the crew, who apparently had put on oxygen masks to protect against smoke filling the cockpit.