Official: Singapore Airlines jet used wrong runway for takeoff

Posted: Friday, November 03, 2000


The comment by prosecutor Soong Kuo-yeh came as officials from Taiwan, Singapore and the United States combed through the wreckage of the Boeing 747-400 at the start of their investigation, and as dozens of American citizens arrived in Taipei to claim the bodies of the victims.

The jetliner crashed late Tuesday night as a typhoon bore down on the capital, with high winds, heavy rains and low visibility, killing 81 of the 179 people aboard Flight SQ006 from Taipei to Los Angeles.

"From the crash scene, it's very easy to see that the plane had mistakenly used the wrong runway where there were scraps of steel and two construction cranes," said Soong, a prosecutor at the Taoyuan County district office where the Chiang Kai-shek airport is located.

In an a live interview with ETTV cable TV news, he said the plane crashed after hitting the two cranes being used to repair the closed runway during the day.

Soong's remarks were the most specific account of what may have happened during the crash.

The official probe has not announced any conclusions. But it has concluded that the bulk of the wreckage ended up on the closed runway that ran parallel to the one the plane was supposed to use.

The pilot and some survivors of the crash also have said they felt the jet hit something just before the accident broke it into three pieces and set most of them on fire.

Another theory being discussed is that the plane began on the correct runway, then quickly lifted off to avoid an object blown into its path and crashed onto the closed runway.

Officials at Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council, which is leading the investigation, could not be immediately reached for comment about the prosecutor's remark. In Singapore, an official at Singapore Airlines home office also declined comment.

On Friday, as dozens of Americans arrived in Taipei aboard a Singapore Airlines flight from Los Angeles, many appearing tired and very sad, most declined to comment to reporters.

But one, Khan Mahmood of Atlanta, who lost his sister and his parents in the crash, criticized Singapore Airlines.

"Initially, we were disappointed. The first day it was a frustrating experience," Mahmood said. He didn't elaborate, but appeared to join others who have complained that Singapore Airlines took too long to notify relatives about what had happened to the plane and the crash victims.

"All I can say is I lost my parents as well as my sister," Mahmood said, before being led to a bus that took the Americans to a hotel, then to a memorial hall where the bodies must be identified.

Another upset woman urged reporters to leave the mourners alone, saying: "I just want my brother back."

People assisting the relatives of the deceased have been more aggressive about keeping reporters and cameras away than they were when the body identification process began earlier in the week.

There was a minor shoving match after news cameras followed relatives into a Buddhist altar area at a funeral center in Taoyuan County. One woman pushed a television camera down.

Meanwhile, investigators continued to comb through the wreckage of the shattered jet, focusing on pieces ranging from a shredded tire to an engine planted deep in the ground.

Singapore Airlines, with no previous crashes in 28 years of operation, is regarded as one of the world's best airlines.

But Tuesday's accident was the latest in Asia to raise questions about whether pilots are given too much leeway in attempting takeoffs and landings in bad weather.

Some survivors have questioned why the Singapore Airlines jet even tried to take off during heavy wind and rains and poor visibility caused by the typhoon.

Winds were blowing between 27 to 31 mph, and the plane was traveling 145 mph - too fast to abort a takeoff, said Kay Yong, managing director of Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council.