Yesterday was a first for Singapore Airlines, but not one it would choose to celebrate. The airline has never had a fatal crash since its inaugural flight in 1972. Dealing with the crash of SQ006 at CKS International Airport late Tuesday night put the airlines crisis-handling ability to the test yesterday.
SIA announced at a press conference yesterday that the company's Singaporean headquarters has dispatched a plane with 130 staff and officials abroad to assist in handling the crisis in Taiwan.
Sharon Wu (
The deadly accident to the SIA 747-400 aircraft is a setback for an airline that has had an almost glitch-free 28-year history. The only previous fatal accident connected with the airline was when a 737 of subsidiary SilkAir crashed in Indonesia in 1998 killing all 104 people aboard. SIA itself has never had a fatal accident before, said Rick Clement, the airlines' vice president of public affairs.
The airline has given emergency compensation of US$25,000 for each of the 79 people who died and US$5,000 for each of the 100 or so passengers who escaped from the crash, according to Wu.
"We will look after the survivors and consider further compensation later," Wu said.
The Malaysian Captain Foong Chee Kong, 41, and two First Officers Ng Kheng leng and Latif Cyrano, 38 and 36, respectively, both Singaporean, were injured in the crash but were able to speak to members of the Aviation Safety Council (ASC, 飛航安全委員會) to assist in the accident investigation, the ASC said at a press conference at CKS airport yesterday.
"This crash happened in Taiwan. Singapore Airlines will cooperate with the Aviation Safety Council and the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA, 交通部民航局) in the investigation," Wu stressed yesterday.
Some have queried the pilots' familiarity with CKS airport. Wu said "We don't know yet how many times the pilots had previously flown to CKS airport. But this airport is an important hub in the region, and the captain had flown a total of 11,235 hours. He should have known the airport well."
Bodies of the dead were badly burnt and hard to recognize. The Department of Health has sent nine dentists to assist identifying the victims.
Soon after the crash, the CAA provided coffins, freezers and generators to help preserve the bodies, CAA Director Chang Kuo-cheng (張國政) said.
Chang added that the CAA has also provided an interpretation service and quickened immigration formalities for families of the dead coming to Taiwan.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work