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Crash pilots summoned

Back in the dock * Singapore Airlines flight SQ006 crashed at CKS airport on Oct. 31, 2000. * An Aviation Safety Council report blamed the pilots for the crash, a claim the airline disputes. * The Taoyuan District Prosecutors' Office wants the pilots to attend a hearing tomorrow to clarify their view of the disaster. * The airline says it's up to the pilots' union whether the pilots will attend the hearing.

The three Singapore Airlines pilots of Flight SQ006 have been summoned to attend an investigative hearing tomorrow, the Taoyuan District Prosecutors' Office said yesterday.

Chiang Kuei-chang (姜貴昌), the spokesman for the prosecutors' office, said the summonses were mailed to Singapore Airlines' Taipei office at the end of April.

"I can't remember the exact date the summonses were mailed," Chiang said. "However, the three pilots were asked to attend the hearing at 3pm on Wednesday."

Chiang said the three pilots, including the Malaysian captain, Foong Che Kong, and two Singaporean co-pilots, Latiff Cyrano and Ng Kheng Leng, were listed as defendants in the case even though prosecutors have not decided whether to indict them.

He said the hearing would create a valuable forum for the pilots, who were in control of the aircraft when the accident happened, to explain in their own words what happened.

"They were on board maneuvering the plane when the crash occurred," he said. "Even though the investigation report was completed and released by Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council (ASC, 飛安會), prosecutors still believe that these three men know more than anybody else [about the crash]. They deserve a chance to defend themselves and explain or add more details if necessary."

According to Chiang, the prosecutors' office had not receive a request for an excused absence from any of the pilots as of press time yesterday.

"We are hoping and expecting that they will come," he said.

The Singapore Airlines Taipei office confirmed that it had received the summonses and was working on sending the pilots as a gesture of cooperation and goodwill.

But it said that there were still some technical details that had to be sorted out, such as travel documentation and visas. It said it was expecting confirmation today about whether the pilots would be able to attend the hearing.

However, the airline said in a statement late last night, "We will make [our] best efforts in the arrangement for them to return to Taiwan."

"On the other hand, it is up to the pilots' union to comment whether the pilots will return to Taiwan," it said, referring to the airline's own pilots' union. "We are not in the position to speak for them."

Asked if Singapore Airlines was worried that the pilots could be arrested, a spokeswoman for the Singapore Airlines Taipei office who wished to remain anonymous told the Taipei Times that she could not make assumptions because the decision was up to the prosecutors' office.

Singapore Airlines Flight SQ006 crashed when the 747 jetliner attempted to take off from a closed runway during a typhoon on Oct. 31, 2000. Eighty-three people on board were killed.

After the accident, the three pilots who survived the crash were detained for two months in Taiwan while the crash was investigated.

According to the crash report issued by Taiwan's ASC on Apr. 26, pilot error was the probable cause of the crash.

Although prosecutors have not decided whether to indict the pilots, the England-based International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) appealed to Taiwan's authorities after the investigation report was released not to arrest them.

The IFALPA also hinted that it may not allow its members to fly planes to Taiwan if the three pilots were prosecuted. The organization has more than 100,000 member pilots around the world.
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