Crash jet was on wrong runway

Relatives gathered at the wreck to pray

The pilot of the Singapore Airlines plane which crashed in Taipei, killing more than 80 people, was trying to take off from the wrong runway, it has been confirmed.

We can see the runway not so bad

Singapore Airline pilot

Singapore Airlines accepted this explanation for the crash after the air safety authorities produced black box recorder data showing that the jumbo took off from a runway under repair.

Flight SQ006, carrying 179 people bound for Los Angeles, is thought to have smashed into construction equipment before breaking into three pieces and exploding.

Investigators are now trying to establish whether the runway lights were wrongly configured, or whether stormy conditions stopped the pilot from seeing where he was.

The plane attempted to take off from runway 5-R, for "right", rather than the correct runway, 5-L, or "left", investigators said.

However, the flight recorder reveals that the pilot, Foong Chee Kong, thought he was taking off from the 5-L runway.

Neither he nor air traffic control noticed that the plane was standing on the wrong runway.

The two parallel runways are about 100 metres (yards) apart.

"The aircraft was on the wrong runway, and we want to understand now how could this have happened," said Singapore Airlines spokesman Rick Clements.

"The two runways are quite different," said Kay Yong, the director of Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council. They have different coloured lights and "pretty big letters" painted in white on the tarmac.

Poor visibility

But he also said visibility was very poor on the night of the crash. The plane and the control tower were not in visual contact, he said.

The crash occurred during a major storm, Typhoon Xangsane.

It is not clear which runway was lit, or if both were.

Mr Yong said an accident earlier in the day had damaged some of the lights on the correct runway, 5-L.

The black box flight recorder is still being examined, as is a transcript of the pilot's communication with the control tower.

Excerpts released so far show that the plane was cleared for take-off at at 18 seconds after 11.15 p.m.

At 19 seconds past 11.16 the pilot said: "We can see the runway not so bad."

Then 53 seconds later, the captain cried out.

One second later there was a bang, and four seconds later, they lost contact.

The captain shouted an English swear word, followed by "something there."

It was not revealed what the swear word was.

Relatives arrive

Relatives of the 81 passengers who died have been arriving in Taipei to claim the bodies of the victims.

Relatives of the dead have begun to identify victims

Khan Mahmood from Atlanta, who lost his sister and his parents in the crash, criticised Singapore Airlines,

"Initially, we were disappointed. The first day it was a frustrating experience," he said.

There have been complaints that Singapore Airlines took too long to notify relatives about what had happened to the plane.

The relatives were taken to a memorial hall, where the bodies are waiting to be identified.

Coffins containing the remains of their loved ones are lined up in a makeshift morgue at the airport.