By TOM COHEN, Associated Press Writer

TORONTO (AP) - Canadian investigators have sent out a draft report on the 1998 Swissair crash off Nova Scotia, completing their probe almost four years after the accident that killed all 229 people on board.

Transportation Safety Board spokesman John Cottreau said Thursday the confidential report was distributed to all involved parties this month for comment.

The final report was expected to be made public early next year, said Cottreau, who declined to discuss any details of the draft report.

"The data collection and investigation has concluded," he said. "Now we're into the confidential draft report phase."

Jean Overney, head of the Swiss investigation office, confirmed the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Aviation received a copy of the draft report. Overney said no official comment would come until the final report gets published.

Swissair Flight 111 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean en route from New York to Geneva on Sept. 2, 1998. Pilots reported smoke in the cockpit 53 minutes into the trip, and the electrical systems began failing 15 minutes later.

Cottreau called the investigation the largest ever conducted by Canada's transportation safety board. Investigators used 2 million pieces of recovered wreckage, some as small as a dollar coin, to partially reconstruct the MD-11 jetliner.

Asked why it took almost four years to conclude the investigation, Cottreau said the board takes however much time is required to complete its work.

Swissair went out of business in October 2001, shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States that crippled the air travel industry worldwide.

The investigation has determined a fire in the ceiling at the front of the plane caused the crash. Investigators focused their probe on charred wiring, but have yet to say what caused the fire.

Two years ago, the Canadian safety board recommended that airlines do a better job of training and equipping crews to detect and fight fires on planes.

An earlier recommendation by investigators noted safety problems with the plane's insulation blankets, which have been suspected of spreading fire. The FAA ( news - web sites) in the United States responded by requiring removal of the insulation blankets from all U.S.-registered MD-11 aircraft.

In March, a U.S. federal judge dismissed claims for punitive damages for families of victims of the Swissair crash.

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On the Net:

Transportation Safety Board, http://www.tsb.gc.ca