Gerety lost his older brother, Pierce, on Sept. 2 when Swissair Flight 111 plunged into St. Margaret's Bay off this scenic Nova Scotia cove, killing all 229 people on board. He has since organized a support group to help families and friends of the victims cope with their loss. Gerety says fear of flying is one of the most common, lingering effects of the crash, especially for children who lost relatives. That's indescribably tough. What is known is that over a period of time lasting roughly 20 minutes there was an escalating emergency in the jetliner, beginning when pilots detected smoke in the cockpit and ending when the plane plummeted into the ocean off Peggy's Cove.
Investigators know there was heat and smoke in the forward section of the plane.
Some experts speculate it was so hot, the pilot and co-pilot would have been forced out of the cockpit. Evidence of electrical arcing was found in damaged wiring recovered from the wreckage, a phenomenon in which electricity flashes like lightning, vaporizing everything in its blazing hot path. It could be as much as two years, maybe more, before the safety board has any hard answers. That's fine with Gerety. It's important to get it right.