Faulty Data Reported in Flight Recorder

The sophisticated avionics computers on Swissair Flight 111 apparently began generating faulty information to the plane’s flight data recorder about five minutes before the recorder cut off and radar contact with the jet was lost.

Investigators declined to say how much of the data was faulty as they continued analyzing the information from the flight recorder, or “black box,” aboard the MD-11 that crashed off Nova Scotia on Sept. 2, killing all 229 aboard. But it has become apparent that during the last five minutes of the recording, the plane’s computers were going haywire, possibly the result of an electrical problem or a fire.

Investigators are looking into whether electrical sources to the plane’s circuitry were burning and causing the computers to behave erratically, sources said.

Investigators haven’t determined if the data will reveal what was going on with systems on the plane, but they expressed optimism that further analysis will yield clues.

Divers late Thursday resumed their efforts to retrieve the cockpit voice recorder, the plane’s second “black box,” which has been located 190 feet beneath the ocean surface.