Communication error behind crash

"The pilot was trying to instill confidence in his crew and give the appearance that everything was all right, despite the storm raging outside."

Prior to the crash, Singapore Airlines had a virtually flawless safety record.

"If they followed standard airline take-off procedure for pilots, the [crash] would not have been possible -- it would have not been possible to take off from the wrong runway," said the expert.

The news came just two days prior to the scheduled release of the crash report tomorrow by the government body spearheading the investigation, the Cabinet-level Aviation Safety Council (ASC,飛安委員會).

Kay Yong (戎凱), managing director of the ASC, did not dismiss the information provided by the two sources saying, "Such speculation will be clarified at Friday's press conference when the factual report on the crash is disclosed," he said yesterday.

Singapore Airlines spokeswoman Sharon Wu (吳蓓南) declined to comment on the information and said the airline "has not been informed of it. ... We would prefer to comment on the case after the investigation is completed," Wu said.