A catalogue of failings lifted the death toll in the October crash of a Singapore Airlines flight in Taipei, according to an investigation by The Weekend Australian newspaper.
Its report, published yesterday, said many of the 179 people on board the doomed flight to Los Angeles survived the initial crash, but perished in the terrifying minutes after impact, as a result of the appalling weather conditions and inadequate assistance by the airline staff.
Eighty-three people died when the Boeing 747 smashed into construction equipment while attempting to take off from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in fierce winds and driving rain on a runway that had been closed for repairs.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has admitted full responsibility for the crash but has rejected suggestions that weather conditions were unsafe for take-off.
The newspaper queries this, arguing rescue efforts and escape attempts were hampered by the conditions.
It said its investigations had shown an inflatable escape ramp was blown back into the crashed aircraft by an approaching typhoon.
It said some passengers were directed by crew into a burning cabin filled with toxic fumes while fire-smothering foam was blown away by high winds.
Airport fire chief Tony Chang told the paper the strong winds meant it took 40 minutes to extinguish the fire which would normally have taken 15 minutes.
"We managed to pull three people from the plane but many more were inside," he said. "By the time the fire crew extinguished the last of the flames it was too late."
The paper said while some flight attendants risked their lives to save people, others failed to help passengers open emergency doors, fleeing the plane before all inside had been rescued.
The Weekend Australian, which based its investigations on dozens of interviews with survivors, crash investigators and airport staff on duty that night, said testimony given by passengers to crash investigators suggests that wind speeds of up to 60 knots prevented those on upper decks from fleeing to safety through an escape hatch at the front of the plane.
John Wiggans, a US aerospace executive in business class, said the emergency safety slide that would have allowed escape from the upper levels was shredded to pieces in the gales.
The emergency exit door, now open to the elements, simply fanned the flames and passengers were instructed to move to the fume-filled lower levels.
"People were passing out because they were stuck on the stairs. People were being unintentionally directed to their deaths," he said. "Every time I think about it I get emotional because people died because of a lot of stupid mistakes."
Another passenger, Sally Walker from the US, said one flight attendant on the lower level could not offer instructions on how to open a safety hatch because she was paralyzed with fear.
"The stewardess was crouched behind us in fear, not doing anything."
In an editorial, the paper said it was an accident waiting to happen and urged aviation authorities to re-examine their safety procedures.
"What is particularly worrying is that those who survived did so largely out of luck or their own quick thinking, rather than the safety equipment on the Boeing 747-400 or the actions of its crew," it said.
"The more we know ... the more we should be demanding that airlines and civil aviation authorities devise, and adhere to, better safety norms."
On Friday, Taiwanese prosecutors investigating the crash delayed the scheduled release of the three pilots who survived.
Captain Foong Chee Kong and co-pilots Latiff Cyrano and Ng Kheng Leng would be released only "after the SIA agrees to share the custody of the three pilots with the Singapore Trade Office," prosecutor Song Kuo-yeh said.
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