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Attention turns toward cause of deadly Taiwan jetliner crash

Weather, possible object on runway, may have played role


In this story:

'Too early to pinpoint a cause'

'Flames everywhere'

RELATED STORIES, SITES icon



TAIPEI, Taiwan (CNN) -- Weather and reports of an object on the runway are being examined as causes into the crash of a Singapore Airlines jetliner Tuesday in Taiwan that claimed at least 68 lives.

Singapore Airlines Flight SQ006 crashed during takeoff at 11:18 p.m. Tuesday local time (14:18 GMT) at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, erupting into flames. An airline spokesman in Los Angeles said that in addition to those who died, 71 people were injured, 31 were uninjured and nine remained unaccounted for. Taiwanese civil officials put the death toll at 69. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.

Airline spokesmen said that 55 Taiwanese and 47 U.S. citizens were among those aboard the flight. Besides the Americans and Taiwanese, airline spokesman James Boyd in Los Angeles said there also were 11 Singaporeans on board, 11 Indians, eight Malaysians, five Indonesians, four Mexicans, four British, two each from Thailand, New Zealand and Vietnam and one each from Australia, Canada, Cambodia, Germany, Japan, Philippines, Ireland and the Canary Islands/Spain.

The U.S. State Department has so far confirmed 22 American survivors of the Singapore Airlines crash, a State Department official said.

The State Department has been in contact with all 22 of those Americans, the official said. He added that "some of them are in the hospital, others were unharmed or have been treated or released and are now at local hotels.

  EMERGENCY NUMBERS
Relatives of those on board flight SQ006 can call (65) 542-3311 in Singapore, or (800) 828-0508 from inside the United States
 
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  GALLERY
Images from the crash of Singapore Airlines Flight 006
 
  TRANSCRIPT
Crash survivor describes the ordeal
 
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Boyd said the airline was in the process of contacting relatives of those on board. A special phone line -- (800) 828-0508 -- has been set up for relatives of passengers in the United States, callers outside the U.S. may dial (65) 542-3311.

Meanwhile, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board announced it is sending a team of investigators to help Taiwanese authorities investigate the crash of the Los Angeles-bound flight.

An eight-member NTSB team is expected to arrive in Taiwan on Thursday evening, local time. Representatives of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will accompany the NTSB investigators.

All information on the progress of the investigation will be released by the Taiwanese authorities.

Preliminary speculation into the cause of the crash will focus on how weather may have affected the flight. Typhoon Xangsane had moved closer to the island's southern coast on Tuesday, and heavy rains have already begun soaking Taipei, the capital.

The typhoon was packing 90 mph (145 km/h) winds. It was expected to make landfall by Wednesday if it maintained its current course, the Central Weather Bureau said.

In an interview with CNN, Jim Eckes of Indoswiss Aviation said investigators will first look at how severe the weather was at the time of takeoff. Eckes said investigators will then look into whose decision it was -- air traffic controllers or the pilot -- to take off.

'Too early to pinpoint a cause'

"It's too early to pinpoint a cause," Eckes said. "But the plane didn't get very far up in the air. Wind from the typhoon could have affected takeoff. The black box may have the answers."

Lee Dickinson, a former investigator for the NTSB, said a key question to be answered is whether other planes tried to take off during the same time that SA SQ006 did.

Investigators will also examine reports by eyewitnesses that the jet struck an object on the runway during takeoff. Singapore Airlines Chief Executive Cheong Choong Kong said several witnesses, including the flight's pilot, also reported that the plane struck an object. It wasn't immediately clear what Flight SQ006 may have hit.

Video footage showed the Boeing 747-400 spewing flames and thick black smoke despite the heavy rain. Afterward, parts of the blue-and-white fuselage were badly charred, with a gaping hole in the roof of the forward section.

The aircraft involved in the crash was bought new from Boeing in January 1997 and had its last major maintenance in September 2000, Boyd said.

Chaplains, counselors and the Salvation Army were on site at Los Angeles International Airport to offer comfort to friends and relatives of passengers, Boyd said.

'Flames everywhere'

"The whole plane was shaking and ... and then it split in half. There was flames everywhere," passenger John Diaz told CNN. "I ran to the door. It was stuck and I hit the door with my shoulder and it popped open."

Diaz said he slid off the plane on an inflatable escape ramp. "It was a nightmare," he said.

Some witnesses said a weather phenomenon known as wind shear appeared to slam the plane to the ground, where it exploded in flames and broke in two.

According to a definition provided by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, wind shear is an abrupt change in wind speed or direction within an air mass. The shear takes place at the boundaries where the winds meet, causing turbulent eddies to occur. It can accompany frontal passages, and can crop up whenever there are strong surface winds.

At the crash scene, firefighters quickly put out flames aboard the aircraft, aviation officials said.

The plane had been scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport at 6:15 p.m. Pacific Time.

CNN Meteorologist Orelon Sydney reports the weather at the time of takeoff "was the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane making landfall on the island. Shortly after the crash, bands of bad weather extending outward from Typhoon Xangsane were creating winds measured from 40 to 73 mph, Sydney said.


ASIANOW


RELATED STORIES:
Rescuers locate Taiwan airliner wreckage
March 18, 1998
More than 200 feared dead in Taiwanese plane crash
February 16, 1998

RELATED SITES:
Singapore Airlines
CKS International Airport, Taipei
Los Angeles World Airports
The Boeing Company
Government Information Office, Republic of China
Taiwan Ministry of Transportation and Communications


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