Swissair update
 

The high-tech entertainment systems in the premium class cabins of 18 Boeing 747 and MD-11 jets owned by Swissair have been voluntarily shut down by the airline. The Coach Class entertainment system is not affected.

Canada's Transportation Safety Board (CTSB) is reviewing post-crash findings that reveal that the system's wiring recovered from Flight 111 shows heat damage. The CTSB is considering the possibility of overheated wires leading to the electrical failure that brought down the flight.

Swissair was the pioneer in installation of extensive in-flight entertainment systems, including video games, music, movies and in-flight gambling. Its systems (costing approximately $2 million per plane) were built by Interactive Flight Technologies of Phoenix, and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. Each unit used Microsoft Windows NT software, with a Pentium processor at each seat wired to a central computer.

FAA officials said that preliminary checks showed that no U.S. airline has the same type of entertainment system.

Yes, but that inflight service of Swissair was no good anyway!!! Just 1 free Film on 11-12 hours flight in eco and they will charge you $8 for every aditional film that is so old it is not even in the videostores anymore!!!! That way they wnt to get you to be bored so you gamble and loose real money!!
I cal that bad customer service besides their unfriendly personel and tiny eco seats!!!

ONLY FIRST- and BUSINESS-class INDIVIDUAL entertainement systems and only on MD-11's have been shut down (the big sreen and all entertainement in eco are still ok).

and for my german colleague: Der Sitzabstand für Langstreckenflüge mit Swissair (MD) ist immerhin 5 cm grösser als bei der Lufthansa.

Take that!

Who sayd that I would fly Lufthansa!
I still think the entertainment system should be to entertain people in the first place not to make money!

I forgot to mention they have individual screens in eco too but....no free entertainment!

ok - I agree - to make money is more entertaining for the receiver than the spender (often, not always).

nobody said that you are flying LH, it was just a comparison between LH and SR eco-seats.

flying eco with the big US carriers on US/Canada-flights (not international) you always pay already for the FIRST movie and the FIRST alcoholic drinks.

You are right with the drinks on dometic american flights but if you bring your own headphones you do not pay.(HP,CO)
This was a 11 hour BKK-FRA flight so 1 free movie is really not good. I would rather have the nonstop big screen entertainment other airlines offer then a pay per view for old movies on an SR individual eco screen.($8!!!)
I was just very dissapionted by SR because I thought they have good service and was mad at myself for not choosing AF or BA or KL.

Rudi, I have to agree about the comfort of the LH vs SR eco seats. In March I flew LHR-GVA (SR), GVA-FRA-(JNB)-HRE in Lufthansa eco, HRE-(JNB)-ZRH-BOS in Swissair eco. Even though the Swissair flights didn't give me any star alliance qualifying mileage, if I did the trip again I would travel with Swissair the whole way - the LH seats were the most uncomfortable, impossible-to-sleep-in eco seats I have ever experienced. These were long trips, & the african legs were overnight. (I'm sure that some domestic US eco seats are uncomfortable too, but you don't have to sit in them for 15 hours...)

Germanfflyer - take a book to read after the free movie ends.

Ah Merry, how I missed those cradle seats...

I feel so flattered baobab - thank you (I guess it is the very first time that you fully agree with me). Thank you.

Rudi I have no trouble agreeing with you... it was your evil twin IDUR whom I argued with!

You might want to check the latest newsletter from SwissAir that was quoted by several of the news networks and the Associated Press.
It said investigators found temperatures in the front of the plane topped 500 degrees plus but did not prove that a fire was responsible for the crash.

If I find the article (from the Associated Press wires, which I don't know if I can paste here or break copyright laws) I'll pass
it on to those interested. It was written
thursday. CATMAN

I did give you a brief information of the original SR-press-info (which was in german) some days ago here on FlyerTalk.