25 years later, P.E.I. doctor recalls 'horrific' deployment after Swissair crash off Nova Scotia

This weekend marksthe 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 wascalled upon to help set up a morgue in a hangar at the air force base in Shearwater, a spot he now considers "sacred ground."

• Get the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.

Over the next six weeks, he and others on the team conducted forensic autopsies on all the remainsthat 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.

"Everybodywants 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

The1998 flight was en routefrom New Yorkto Geneva, Switzerland.

After noticing some technical errors on board, the Swissairflight 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 oceansouthwest of Peggys Cove, near the community of Bayswater.

Swissair 111 crashes off Nova Scotia in 1998

26 years ago

Duration 7:39

More than 200 people perish after Swissair flight 111 crashes into the water near Peggy's Cove. Aired Sept.3, 1998 on CBC's The National.

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 theSwissair 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 bein attendance, including Jain. It will behis first inPeggys 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."