Taiwan Releases Singapore Air Pilots
Taiwan agreed on Thursday to allow three pilots of a Singapore Airlines plane which crashed on take-off in Taipei two months ago killing 83 people to return home.
The decision follows intense pressure from the Singapore government and condemnation by the Singapore media and the London-based International Federation of Airline Pilots' Associations, which threatened to boycott Taiwan.
Song Kuo-yeh, the chief prosecutor in the northern county of Taoyuan, said the pilots were free to leave Taiwan after the carrier signed court documents promising they would return to help investigations.
"Singapore Airlines had completed the paperwork this afternoon, and they will take the responsibility to send them back to Taiwan if there is a need for investigation," Sung told Reuters.
The October 31 crash killed 83 of the 179 people aboard the Los Angeles-bound Boeing 747-400 and was the first fatal incident in Singapore Airlines' 28-year history.
Foong Chee Kong, 41, the Malaysian pilot of Singapore Airlines flight SQ006, and first officers Ng Kheng Leng, 38, and Latif Cyrano, 36, both Singaporeans, had been barred from leaving Taiwan while prosecutors investigated the crash.
An SIA spokesman said: "We have provided our written assurance to the Taiwanese authorities of our best efforts, within the provision of Singapore and international law, to ensure the pilots return to Taipei if so required."
A spokeswoman speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the release but declined to say when the pilots would return home. Local media reported that the pilots left Thursday afternoon.
The Singapore government, which has also been seeking the pilots' release, thanked Taiwan for the gesture.
"The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology is happy to learn that the Taiwan authorities have allowed the SIA pilots to return to Singapore to rejoin their families," the ministry said in a statement.
The crash happened when the jet took off during a typhoon on a runway that had been closed for repair work and collided with construction equipment and burst into flames.
In a preliminary report, Taiwan air safety investigators have ruled out problems with the Boeing 747-400 jet as the cause of the crash. SIA said pilot error was to blame.
The pilots had initially been scheduled to leave last week after Singapore's quasi-official embassy signed court documents and was given custody of the men.
But their departure was delayed after the prosecutor decided that Singapore Airlines would also have to guarantee the pilots would return to Taiwan to help investigations.
The pilots were not taken into court custody during their stay in Taiwan. They stayed at a hotel and were free to move around the island.
The pilots have been detained in Taiwan since their Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet mistakenly tried to take off on a closed runway during a severe storm. The plane slammed into construction equipment and burt into flames, killing 83 people.
Crash investigators have not formally concluded that pilot error caused the accident.
Pilot unions have criticized the Taiwanese prosecutors, who are conducting their own crash investigation, for holding the pilots so long. Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council, which is conducting a separate crash investigation, has also urged prosecutors to let the pilots return to their families.
Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations with Singapore, and the prosecutors were worried that the Singaporean government would not extradite the pilots if prosecutors charged them.
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