The death toll in the crash of the Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet rose yesterday to 80 while the airline continued to stress that the pilot was was not to blame for the crash.
In addition to the 80 dead, 56 were still in hospital and another 44 had escaped virtually unscathed.
Authorities recovered the plane's two black boxes yesterday -- the voice recorder and data recorder -- and said the two were "complete and clear."
Investigations into reasons behind the crash were ongoing but no conclusions had yet been reached.
One possible explanation that is being closely investigated is that the pilot may have strayed onto a runway that was under repair and hit materials or equipment that were left there.
Camera footage on local television showed a damaged backhoe next to the shredded carcass of the fuselage of the plane. The backhoe appeared to have sustained damage to its hydraulic arm, although investigators could not say for certain if the damage had occurred before or after the crash.
Singapore Airlines also said that although there was a typhoon, weather conditions at the airport were within safe takeoff tolerances.
"He [the pilot] wouldn't be allowed to take off if the weather conditions were very bad," airline spokesman Rick Clements told reporters in Singapore. Clements noted that other planes were taking off around the time of the crash.
However, Clements did say that the pilot "saw an object on the runway and he tried to take off to avoid the object, and he hit the object."
Clements wouldn't say what the plane might have struck.
The government yesterday moved to minimize the possible damage that such a mishap could bring the already-embattled new government, publicly apologizing and expressing its concern for family members.
"President Chen Shui-bian (
Yu said that the president called on all departments of the government to do all they could to help passengers and their families.
Yesterday, both Chen and Vice President Annette Lu (
The premier urged the Minister of Justice to send more coroners to help speed up the process of identifying the dead.
The passenger list included 47 US citizens and 55 Taiwanese, airline officials said. There were also eight Malaysians on the flight, 11 Singaporeans, five Indonesians, 11 Indians and four Mexicans. Individuals from some 19 countries were on board.
Singapore Airlines said that it would provide all families of the victims with US$25,000 in immediate compensation, Clements said.
Speaking in Singapore, the airline's chairman, Michael Fam, said: "We wish to express our sincere regret to all concerned. This is a tragic day for all of us."
The scene was frantic at Chang Gung Hospital near the airport, where emergency room workers gently lifted injured people from ambulances. Some were burned, others lay on gurneys with broken or bruised limbs.
Y.K. Soong, the hospital's vice superintendent, said that if it hadn't been for the heavy rain, the fire might have spread through the wreckage much faster.
Dr Sally Walker, 46, a professor of Geology at the University of Georgia, escaped from the burning plane alive. While Walker said she had searched long and hard for a safe airline, her first 24-hour trip "was a nightmare."
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