A Singapore Airlines' Boeing 747-400 jetliner, carrying 159 passengers and 20 crew, bound for Los Angeles, crashed shortly after takeoff at CKS International Airport at 11:18pm last night.
As of press time, however, there were no definite figures concerning deaths or serious injuries from the accident.
PHOTO: TONY YAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Windshear apparently caused the plane to lose altitude upon takeoff. It then crashed, and reportedly exploded and caught fire.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
There was an explosion as the plane struck a China Airlines plane on the runway, emergency official Wu Bi-chang said.
The Singapore flight was reported to be flight SQ006, originating in Singapore and bound for the US west coast, scheduled to depart CKS at 10:55pm and arrive in Los Angeles at 6:15pm today.
There were 81 Taiwanese passengers aboard.
Some injured passengers were rushed to Tayuan Hospital, close by the airport.
The accident took place as Typhoon Xangsane was approaching Taiwan causing high winds and heavy rain islandwide.
James Boyd, Singapore airlines spokesman, speaking from Los Angeles, told the Fox News Channel that there were no fatalities, but there were about 30 injuries.
Most of the injuries did not appear serious, officials in Taipei said.
After the crash, the plane's blue fuselage appeared badly burned, with a gaping hole in the roof.
John Diaz, a passenger on the flight, told CNN the flames "shot up right next to me" as the plane tried to take off. He said there was ``heavy, heavy rain'' at the time.
"When I got the airport conditions were so bad, and I asked them, `is the flight going to take off?'" Diaz said. "And they said, `we do this all the time, it's fine.'"
Diaz disputed the claim that their were no deaths.
"There had to be fatalities," he said. Describing the crash, he said there was a loud bang. "And then there were flames just all over the place. Flames shot up right next to me and some some poor fellow not very far from me got I guess jet fuel splashed on him, because he just lit up like a torch.
"There were a lot of cuts, there were a lots of burns. One gentleman...was severely, severely, severely burned. There were a lot of burns because there was jet fuel all over the place."
Another passenger was quoted as saying he saw a woman die of her injuries in hospital.
The Veterans General Hospital reported at around 1:45 pm that one passenger had died of her injuries.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency as well as long-term residency in Taiwan has decreased, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the reduction of Chinese spouses staying or living in Taiwan is only one facet reflecting the general decrease in the number of people willing to get married in Taiwan. The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency last year was 7,123, down by 2,931, or 29.15 percent, from the previous year. The same census showed that the number of Chinese spouses applying for long-term residency and receiving approval last year stood at 2,973, down 1,520,
EASING ANXIETY: The new guide includes a section encouraging people to discuss the threat of war with their children and teach them how to recognize disinformation The Ministry of National Defense’s All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency yesterday released its updated civil defense handbook, which defines the types of potential military aggression by an “enemy state” and self-protection tips in such scenarios. The agency has released three editions of the handbook since 2022, covering information from the preparation of go-bags to survival tips during natural disasters and war. Compared with the previous edition, released in 2023, the latest version has a clearer focus on wartime scenarios. It includes a section outlining six types of potential military threats Taiwan could face, including destruction of critical infrastructure and most undersea cables, resulting in
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
RSS