Yong said the tower could only understand the location of an airplane by communicating with the pilot to confirm vital data relating to the plane as CKS is not equipped with ground radar. Alfred Dickinson, US representative of the National Transportation Safety Board assisting in the ASC's investigation at the ASC' invitation, said that ground radar is not yet common in other countries, including the US "because economics and the certification of efficiency of such equipment is a problem."
The council is investigating whether the side lights of runway 5R were on. "Side lights should be switched off when a runway is used as a taxiway," said Yong. The front part of the 5R runway that is not included in current construction work, has been open for taxiing, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA,
Dickinson said it is logical for an airport to use the part of the runway spared from construction to direct traffic.
The side lights of runway 5R have the same color as those of runway 5L. But the former has green center lights while the latter's are white. The ASC said that they received conflicting reports from interviews with those involved or who witnessed the accident, while revealing that flight attendants on the flight said they saw these lights on from the window of the plane.
In addition, the council is investigating whether the pilot saw, or was able to see, the large letters painted in white on the tarmac of the runway indicating which way he was going.
Yong said notice to airlines about the construction on runway 5R was given out in September. But whether EVA Air, which operates as dispatcher for Singapore Airlines in Taipei, had fully informed the captain of the flight of the fact is still under investigation, he said.
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