25 years later, P.E.I. doctor recalls 'horrific' deployment after Swissair crash off Nova Scotia
Warning: This story contains details some may find disturbing
This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the night Swissair Flight 111 crashed off Nova Scotia, with all 229 people on board dying as the plane plunged into the ocean off Peggys Cove.
Commemoration ceremonies are being held in Nova Scotia to honour the victims and those who stepped up to help — including P.E.I. emergency room doctor Trevor Jain.
Back then, Jain was a fourth-year medical student and army reservist in Halifax, and had some experience in pathology. He was called upon to help set up a morgue in a hangar at the air force base in Shearwater, a spot he now considers "sacred ground."
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Over the next six weeks, he and others on the team conducted forensic autopsies on all the remains that could be recovered. As the pathology operations officer, he volunteered to handle all the autopsies involving children's remains, according to a post on the Canadian Medical Association's website.
"I've deployed eight times with the armed forces," Jain told CBC News in an interview this week.
"Everybody wants to talk about Iraq, or the Middle East, or the global war on terror, but I can honestly say domestic operations take a toll on soldiers.
"That was the most horrific deployment, for me, out of the eight that I've done."
Tragic night
The 1998 flight was en route from New York to Geneva, Switzerland.
After noticing some technical errors on board, the Swissair flight crew tried to divert to Halifax International Airport, according to the Transport Safety Board of Canada's investigation report of the incident. As the crew prepared to land, they told air traffic controllers a fire had spread in parts of the aircraft.
Shortly after, many on-board systems failed, and at 10:31 p.m. AT, the aircraft crashed into the ocean southwest of Peggys Cove, near the community of Bayswater.
Fishermen in the area were among the first to respond after hearing a loud boom. They found a debris field that was covered in jet fuel, wreckage from the plane itself, and human remains.
Then came all the emergency crews and medical responders, like Jain.
"I remember the first autopsy distinctly. I remember the smells, the sights, the smell of [jet fuel], seawater. That whole experience," Jain said.
Jain took six weeks off school to work with the army at the Swissair 111 morgue. He was worried about what that would mean for his studies, but Dalhousie Medical School counted his work as part of his rotation.
"My dean was amazing with support for that year," he said.
'Sacred ground'
On Sunday, there will be a full day of commemorations at Peggys Cove.
First responders and volunteers are expected to be in attendance, including Jain. It will be his first in Peggys Cove since the crash.
"I just couldn't go visit. I couldn't go see it," he said.
"I did manage to return to Hanger B in Shearwater. I did want to see that building. I saw that building in 2018, 2019, just because it was sacred ground where a lot of amazing Canadians did a lot of amazing work."
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With files from Island Morning