Taiwan Crash Plane Hit Object on Runway, 79 Dead
November 2, 2000 - 0:0
TAIPEI -- A Singapore Airlines plane which crashed at Taipei Airport killing 79 people hit an unidentified object on the runway just before takeoff, AFP quoted its Malaysian pilot as saying on Wednesday.
Foong Chee Kong, 48, said he saw something on the runway and hit it just before takeoff shortly before midnight Tuesday.
"He saw something there," Airline Public Affairs Vice President Rick Clements said in Singapore. "It might have been a vehicle, it might have been a tyre, I don't know." The Boeing 747-400, bound for Los Angeles with 159 passengers and 20 crew on board plunged to the ground and burst into flames shortly after taking off in a typhoon.
Seventy-six people were killed instantly. Three others, including a pregnant woman, died in hospital.
Miraculously 44 people escaped from the crash with barely a scratch.
Many of the 56 people still hospitalized Wednesday suffered horrific burns.
The jet broke into three pieces and burned fiercely after crashing in gale-force winds and torrential rain.
Many of the corpses, laid out in a temporary funeral parlor erected at the airport, were charred beyond recognition.
Taiwan officials initially blamed strong winds after the doomed flight SQ006 took off in force 8 gusts. But on Wednesday they stressed that conditions were within safety limits.
Taiwan television station TVBS speculated that the plane had taken a runway which was closed for repairs.
The airport has two main runways which run parallel to each other.
The station showed footage of the closed runway littered with a hydraulic mechanical shovel, which had clearly been hit by something, cement blocks and the wreckage of the plane.
But the airline dismissed speculation that the pilot had taken the wrong runway.
"I understand there is no evidence of that so far," Clements said. "I think that what has happened is that the debris was spread so far that part was on the other runway.
"The runway that the aircraft was cleared to depart from was actually a well-lit runway whereas the other runway was not lit so an experienced pilot should not have made the mistake of using the wrong runway." The pilot had flown to Taipei several times during October and was familiar with the airport, he added.
The search of the mangled wreckage was hampered Wednesday by the typhoon winds and rains. But both "black box" voice and data recorders were recovered. A formal probe involving local officials and experts from Singapore, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing will begin Friday.
Chang You-Heng, head of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), said the causes of the tragedy were "still not clear," but added "take-off was allowable under the weather conditions." The crash was the first serious accident involving Singapore Airlines. In December 1997, 104 people died when a Boeing 737 operated by the airline's fully-owned subsidiary, SilkAir, crashed in Indonesia.
It shattered Singapore Airlines' otherwise proud safety record which had previously included only a handful of technical incidents in its 28 year history.
Foong Chee Kong, 48, said he saw something on the runway and hit it just before takeoff shortly before midnight Tuesday.
"He saw something there," Airline Public Affairs Vice President Rick Clements said in Singapore. "It might have been a vehicle, it might have been a tyre, I don't know." The Boeing 747-400, bound for Los Angeles with 159 passengers and 20 crew on board plunged to the ground and burst into flames shortly after taking off in a typhoon.
Seventy-six people were killed instantly. Three others, including a pregnant woman, died in hospital.
Miraculously 44 people escaped from the crash with barely a scratch.
Many of the 56 people still hospitalized Wednesday suffered horrific burns.
The jet broke into three pieces and burned fiercely after crashing in gale-force winds and torrential rain.
Many of the corpses, laid out in a temporary funeral parlor erected at the airport, were charred beyond recognition.
Taiwan officials initially blamed strong winds after the doomed flight SQ006 took off in force 8 gusts. But on Wednesday they stressed that conditions were within safety limits.
Taiwan television station TVBS speculated that the plane had taken a runway which was closed for repairs.
The airport has two main runways which run parallel to each other.
The station showed footage of the closed runway littered with a hydraulic mechanical shovel, which had clearly been hit by something, cement blocks and the wreckage of the plane.
But the airline dismissed speculation that the pilot had taken the wrong runway.
"I understand there is no evidence of that so far," Clements said. "I think that what has happened is that the debris was spread so far that part was on the other runway.
"The runway that the aircraft was cleared to depart from was actually a well-lit runway whereas the other runway was not lit so an experienced pilot should not have made the mistake of using the wrong runway." The pilot had flown to Taipei several times during October and was familiar with the airport, he added.
The search of the mangled wreckage was hampered Wednesday by the typhoon winds and rains. But both "black box" voice and data recorders were recovered. A formal probe involving local officials and experts from Singapore, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing will begin Friday.
Chang You-Heng, head of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), said the causes of the tragedy were "still not clear," but added "take-off was allowable under the weather conditions." The crash was the first serious accident involving Singapore Airlines. In December 1997, 104 people died when a Boeing 737 operated by the airline's fully-owned subsidiary, SilkAir, crashed in Indonesia.
It shattered Singapore Airlines' otherwise proud safety record which had previously included only a handful of technical incidents in its 28 year history.