Reports that the pilot of Singapore Airlines flight SQ006 took off the wrong runway are expected to add to the economic fallout for the squeeky-clean airline.
"The plane did take off from the wrong runway," Rick Clements, vice-president for public affairs for SIA, told a press conference. The crash at Taipei's main airport on Tuesday night killed at least 81 and injured dozens more among the 179 passengers and crew on board.
SIA's statement prompted a crisis of confidence in the company's shares, which plunged 5.7 percent on the local bourse.
The Singapore government said it took the preliminary findings seriously and pledged "all possible action" to prevent a recurrence of the accident.
While the costs of the crash have yet to be tallied, Asia's ninth largest by passengers carried and second largest by cargo carried, will likely have to pay higher insurance premiums in the future.
"SIA will have a lot of expenses from this for a while," said Jim Eckes, managing director of Indoswiss Aviation, an aviation consultant. "If they're smart they'll sit down and settle with as many as possible as soon as possible." Under the Warsaw convention, airlines are liable for a maximum of US$75,000 a victim in a plane accident, analysts said.
With the current death toll, SIA's maximum liability under the international legal guideline would be US$6.08 million. Further, a new 747-400 jet costs at least US$174.5 million at list price.
On top of these figures, SIA has already given out US$5,000 for each victim of this crash for immediate expenses, part of US$25,000 it pledged hours after the crash to help next of kin.
SIA will also bear the costs of crisis management due to the accident.
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