At Odds Over Taiwan Crash
The crew of a Singapore Airlines jetliner that crashed while taking off on the wrong runway in Taiwan should not be prosecuted, a pilots' group said Friday.
The International Federation of Airline Pilots' Association made the comments in a news conference just hours after investigators released the final report on the October 2000 accident that killed 83 people. The report said that pilot error and stormy weather were the chief probable causes of the accident.
Pilot unions and investigators have opposed the prosecution of pilots. They fear that if pilots had to worry about lawsuits, they would be reluctant to cooperate with crash investigations.
Taiwan said bad weather and the flight crew were most likely to blame for Singapore Airlines' first fatal crash, closing an investigation that has strained relations between the two countries.
Singapore said flaws at Taipei's international airport played a “critical role” in the October 2000 crash of Los Angeles-bound flight SQ 006.
The Taiwan cabinet's Aviation Safety Council, in a final 508-page report on the crash, identified eight “probable causes” related to the crew and a typhoon. Taiwan said the crew did not make full use of information such as the airport navigation chart, aircraft heading references, runway and taxiway signs and markings.
“The flight crew lost situational awareness and commenced takeoff from the wrong runway,” it said.
Taiwan had refused to let Singapore offer input into the final findings.
The Boeing 747, which had 179 people on board, exploded in a fireball on takeoff after hitting construction equipment parked on a closed runway parallel to the runway it was supposed to be on.
Taiwanese air safety official Kay Yong told a news conference that heavy rain, strong wind, low visibility and time pressure had affected the flight crew of SQ 006 in decision-making and awareness.
The findings could be used as ammunition in courtroom battles against Singapore Airlines - or Taiwan's international airport - by survivors and victims' families seeking compensation. Singapore Airlines has offered $400,000 per victim but declined to say how many have taken up the offer.
A report from Singapore's Ministry of Transport highlighted shortcomings at Taiwan's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport.
“The Singapore team believes that the major deficiencies at (the airport) played a critical role in the accident,” the ministry said in the 107-page report.
Taiwan agreed with the Singapore report to an extent, classified lighting and signs at Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek international airport that fell below international standards as a “finding related to risk.”
“CKS Airport infrastructure did not meet the level of internationally accepted standards and recommended practices,” the Taiwanese report said. “However, the absence of these enhancements was not deemed sufficient to have caused the loss of situational awareness of the flight crew.”
The Malaysian pilot Foong Chee Kong and first officers Ng Kheng Leng and Latif Cyrano are still employed by Singapore Airlines but have not flown since the accident. They are hoping the release of the report would pave the way for them to fly again, The Strait Times said on Friday.