The three pilots of the ill-fated Singapore Airlines flight SQ006 that crashed in Taipei on Oct. 31 will not attend the public memorial service for the victims. The event is scheduled to take place tomorrow at Taoyuan Stadium, a spokesperson for Singapore Airlines said.
Acting Taoyuan County Magistrate Hsu Ying-shen (
The three pilots of the jumbo jet, however, will not participate in the ceremony, the spokesperson said, "because the whole incident is still under investigation."
The three pilots taxied the plane onto a runway that had been closed for repairs, and in the process of taking off, slammed the aircraft into construction machinery.
It burst into flames, killing 82 passengers and wounding some 40 more.
Hsu said that because the victims had a wide range of religious beliefs, the organizing committee has prepared more than 10 religious recitals to meet each demand.
He was unable to confirm whether President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) would attend the ceremony.
A spokeswoman for Singapore Airlines' Taipei branch office said that the airline's chairman of the board will head a 100-member delegation at the service. She added that in order to help arrange the service, Singapore Airlines has invited a nine-member religious advisory group to come to Taiwan.
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