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Flight 111: A Year in the Life of a Tragedy
"Swissair 1-1-1 is declaring Pan Pan Pan. We have smoke in the cockpit." Seventeen minutes after the co-pilot's distress call, the Geneva-bound jet crashed into the Atlantic off Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia just over an hour after leaving New York on September 2, 1998, killing all 229 people on board.
Acclaimed journalist Stephen Kimber tells the moving story of the crash and its far-reaching human consequences. Kimber introduces us to a wide variety of people: from the victims and their families to the recovery teams, reporters, pathologists and investigators who searched desperately for answers. In a fast-paced and compelling style, Flight 111 traces the interconnected paths of the people whose fates were forever altered by what happened that night.
Says the Ottawa Citizen: "Deftly recreates the events leading up to the crash, along with the aftermath, and puts a much-needed human face on the incident."
This new edition includes an afterword with updated information from the investigation.
Acclaimed journalist Stephen Kimber tells the moving story of the crash and its far-reaching human consequences. Kimber introduces us to a wide variety of people: from the victims and their families to the recovery teams, reporters, pathologists and investigators who searched desperately for answers. In a fast-paced and compelling style, Flight 111 traces the interconnected paths of the people whose fates were forever altered by what happened that night.
Says the Ottawa Citizen: "Deftly recreates the events leading up to the crash, along with the aftermath, and puts a much-needed human face on the incident."
This new edition includes an afterword with updated information from the investigation.
402 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 9, 2013
About the author
Stephen Kimber
21 books47 followersSTEPHEN KIMBER, a Professor of Journalism at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Canada and co-founder of King's MFA in Creative Nonfiction program, is an award-winning writer, editor and broadcaster.
His two most recent books include a novel — The Sweetness in the Lime (Nimbus, 2020) — and a work of nonfiction, Alexa! Changing the Face of Canadia Politics (Goose Lane, 2021).
Alexa is the biography of iconic Canadian feminist political leader Alexa McDonough.
Sweetness is a love story set in Havana, Halifax and Miami. It tells the story of Eli, a resolutely single, fiftysomething newspaper copy editor who spends his nights obsessing over reporters’ unnecessary “thats” and his days caring for a demented father he knows should be in twenty-four-hour care. Then, on a single day, he loses his job and his father dies. He ends up adrift in Cuba where he falls in love with Mariela, an off-the-books Havana tour guide. But does Eli really fall for Mariela or just for the idea of her? And does she actually love him, or is he just her ticket to a better life. They both have secrets they’re not willing to share until they have no choice. The Sweetness in the Lime is "a charming, clever novel that peels back the rind to discover there really is sweetness in the lime of life."
Kimber is also the author of ten other books, including another novel, Reparations (HarperCollins, 2006), and eight non-fiction titles — What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five (Fernwood 2013); IWK: A Century of Caring (Nimbus 2009); Loyalists and Layabouts: The Rapid Rise and Faster Fall of Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 1783-1792 (Doubleday 2008); Sailors, Slackers and Blind Pigs: Halifax at War (Doubleday 2002); NOT GUILTY: The Trial of Gerald Regan (Stoddart 1999); Flight 111: The Tragedy of the Swissair Crash (Doubleday 1999); More Than Just Folks (Pottersfield 1996); and Net Profits (Nimbus 1990). He is also co-author of the book The Spirit of Africville (Formac 1992) and the most recent updated edition of Thomas Raddall’s classic Halifax: Warden of the North (Nimbus 2010).
Since 1983, he has taught journalism at the University of King’s College, where he specializes in creative nonfiction. From 1996 to 2003 and in 2007-08 and 2013-14, he was Director of the School of Journalism.
In 2001, he completed a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction degree at Goucher College in Baltimore, MD.
He and his wife, Jeanie Steinbock Kimber, live in Halifax. They have three grown children.
His two most recent books include a novel — The Sweetness in the Lime (Nimbus, 2020) — and a work of nonfiction, Alexa! Changing the Face of Canadia Politics (Goose Lane, 2021).
Alexa is the biography of iconic Canadian feminist political leader Alexa McDonough.
Sweetness is a love story set in Havana, Halifax and Miami. It tells the story of Eli, a resolutely single, fiftysomething newspaper copy editor who spends his nights obsessing over reporters’ unnecessary “thats” and his days caring for a demented father he knows should be in twenty-four-hour care. Then, on a single day, he loses his job and his father dies. He ends up adrift in Cuba where he falls in love with Mariela, an off-the-books Havana tour guide. But does Eli really fall for Mariela or just for the idea of her? And does she actually love him, or is he just her ticket to a better life. They both have secrets they’re not willing to share until they have no choice. The Sweetness in the Lime is "a charming, clever novel that peels back the rind to discover there really is sweetness in the lime of life."
Kimber is also the author of ten other books, including another novel, Reparations (HarperCollins, 2006), and eight non-fiction titles — What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five (Fernwood 2013); IWK: A Century of Caring (Nimbus 2009); Loyalists and Layabouts: The Rapid Rise and Faster Fall of Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 1783-1792 (Doubleday 2008); Sailors, Slackers and Blind Pigs: Halifax at War (Doubleday 2002); NOT GUILTY: The Trial of Gerald Regan (Stoddart 1999); Flight 111: The Tragedy of the Swissair Crash (Doubleday 1999); More Than Just Folks (Pottersfield 1996); and Net Profits (Nimbus 1990). He is also co-author of the book The Spirit of Africville (Formac 1992) and the most recent updated edition of Thomas Raddall’s classic Halifax: Warden of the North (Nimbus 2010).
Since 1983, he has taught journalism at the University of King’s College, where he specializes in creative nonfiction. From 1996 to 2003 and in 2007-08 and 2013-14, he was Director of the School of Journalism.
In 2001, he completed a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction degree at Goucher College in Baltimore, MD.
He and his wife, Jeanie Steinbock Kimber, live in Halifax. They have three grown children.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 5, 2024
Very compelling read. One of those nonfiction books you hope you can change the ending of, if only you keep reading. As a Nova Scotian, I remember when this event happened but it was fascinating and heartbreaking to learn the details of this horrific tragedy. Kimber did an excellent job narrating the events of this international story, including people and details from multiple countries. He pieced it all together in a way that was coherent and engaging. It was so meaningful to get to know the victims and their families through his careful research.
August 6, 2017
Maybe 3.5 stars. As someone who follows aviation tragedy, I must have missed this one. While on a trip to Nova Scotia and discussions about the Halifax explosion of 1917 this one caught my eye. Written in the immediate aftermath of the 1998 Swissair crash, it has some unsatisfying but all-too-true aspects of how people band together and tear apart in reaction to a tragedy. Many annoying typos requiring a copy editor, and some really fawning aspects towards the 'accomplished elite males' aboard and on the ground. Interesting investigative details. Some bereaved grasping-at-straws for blame and rage. Some wonderful human beings reminiscent of the "Come From Away" story post 9-11. They had had practice for sure.
July 4, 2021
Incredible effort
4.75 stars
I’m glad I gambled on this self-published chronicle. After a slow start setting the scene, Mr Kimble offers an extraordinary account of the crash and its aftermath. He particularly excels at differentiating characters; I rarely had to look back to refresh my memory as I read. He fully captures these folks, as well—in particular, his depiction of Miles Geherty is concise, yet illuminating.
This book, unlike other airline crash books, focuses on the families and their struggles to make sense not only of their loss, but their struggles with Swissair. I appreciate that the epilogue includes a summary of the transportation board’s findings, but I wish Mr Kimble would have devoted a little more time on the report.
4.75 stars
I’m glad I gambled on this self-published chronicle. After a slow start setting the scene, Mr Kimble offers an extraordinary account of the crash and its aftermath. He particularly excels at differentiating characters; I rarely had to look back to refresh my memory as I read. He fully captures these folks, as well—in particular, his depiction of Miles Geherty is concise, yet illuminating.
This book, unlike other airline crash books, focuses on the families and their struggles to make sense not only of their loss, but their struggles with Swissair. I appreciate that the epilogue includes a summary of the transportation board’s findings, but I wish Mr Kimble would have devoted a little more time on the report.
November 15, 2023
Picked up this book in Nova Scotia on the 25th anniversary of the crash. Visited both memorials. A moving book.
May 14, 2025
"Flight 111" is a book that tells the true tale of one of the largest aviation accidents ever recorded. On September 2, 1998, Swissair Flight 111 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, just 9 kilometers off the coast of Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia. This crash claimed the lives of 229 people, 215 being passengers and 14 being crew.
This was one of those books where I got so far into it and felt like I just could not stop. I got very wrapped up in this story, and it even prompted me to look further into all this after I read the book. I had watched news clips I could find, and old articles/testimonies to read further into. I found this story horrifying to read, the detail into how it crashed and what likely happened to the people on the plane as it was crashing was shocking. I am not very familiar with aircrafts, and even less familiar with aviation disasters so this was a first for me.
Reading about the aftermath, the families, and those involved was insightful. I found the author told the stories of the victims and the aftermath with their families in such a way that it was meaningful to almost get to know them and their stories, yet I also feel bad knowing how much these people have suffered. In my opinion, I felt the author spent a lot of time researching and getting to know the people he was telling this story about, as the way it reads and comes across is just like second nature.
I gave this book a 5 star rating because it was just a book I did not want to put down. It was informative. It was interesting. But it was also horrifying and shocking in ways I expected but was not totally prepared to learn about. I had never heard of this crash previous, which baffled me because, at the time, and even still now, it is one of the largest aviation accidents ever recorded. I recommend this book to anyone who likes nonfiction books, anyone who likes a gripping story that you feel like you can't put down, and anyone who takes an interest in books that are a retelling/research piece on disasters and tragedies that have happened.
This was one of those books where I got so far into it and felt like I just could not stop. I got very wrapped up in this story, and it even prompted me to look further into all this after I read the book. I had watched news clips I could find, and old articles/testimonies to read further into. I found this story horrifying to read, the detail into how it crashed and what likely happened to the people on the plane as it was crashing was shocking. I am not very familiar with aircrafts, and even less familiar with aviation disasters so this was a first for me.
Reading about the aftermath, the families, and those involved was insightful. I found the author told the stories of the victims and the aftermath with their families in such a way that it was meaningful to almost get to know them and their stories, yet I also feel bad knowing how much these people have suffered. In my opinion, I felt the author spent a lot of time researching and getting to know the people he was telling this story about, as the way it reads and comes across is just like second nature.
I gave this book a 5 star rating because it was just a book I did not want to put down. It was informative. It was interesting. But it was also horrifying and shocking in ways I expected but was not totally prepared to learn about. I had never heard of this crash previous, which baffled me because, at the time, and even still now, it is one of the largest aviation accidents ever recorded. I recommend this book to anyone who likes nonfiction books, anyone who likes a gripping story that you feel like you can't put down, and anyone who takes an interest in books that are a retelling/research piece on disasters and tragedies that have happened.
June 26, 2026
I was given a copy of "Flight 111" by Stephen Kimber as a gift shortly after visiting the Swissair Flight 111 Memorial site. It was the second time I've ever been to the site, lodged on the shores of Peggy's Cove, and this time it moved me to tears. "Forever joined by sea and sky," etched on the memorial stone, struck a deep chord with the griever in me. Now, having finished this book, I wish I had been able to read this before my visit.
Stephen writes with such compassion and honesty. He can capture the full array of grief - the anger, the confusion, the sorrow, but still the occasional burst of compassion and human connection - and weaves them into a story that Nova Scotia refused to let be lost at sea. The way the narrative is threaded from before the crash, the lives of the souls on the plane, down to the lasting impression the disaster has today, was profoundly done and exceptionally well-written.
Unbeknownst to my family and me, we stayed for a few days at the Lord Nelson, not knowing it was so intricately connected to the very tragedy we had mourned a day prior. In reflection, it makes this book all the more moving. It gave me the knowledge that we stood on the same floors and steps that those families did, surviving our own grief much like they had to survive theirs. This is a book I would absolutely pick up again and would recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about the true story of Swissair 111.
Stephen writes with such compassion and honesty. He can capture the full array of grief - the anger, the confusion, the sorrow, but still the occasional burst of compassion and human connection - and weaves them into a story that Nova Scotia refused to let be lost at sea. The way the narrative is threaded from before the crash, the lives of the souls on the plane, down to the lasting impression the disaster has today, was profoundly done and exceptionally well-written.
Unbeknownst to my family and me, we stayed for a few days at the Lord Nelson, not knowing it was so intricately connected to the very tragedy we had mourned a day prior. In reflection, it makes this book all the more moving. It gave me the knowledge that we stood on the same floors and steps that those families did, surviving our own grief much like they had to survive theirs. This is a book I would absolutely pick up again and would recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about the true story of Swissair 111.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews