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 Community
Issues
 Singapore Airlines' SQ006 Crash
In recent days, there has been a debate on Singapore Airlines' SQ006 crash
at Chiang Kai Shek International Airport. The local media as well as the general community have sought to
air their views on the matter.
Our task is not to comment on the issue, but to put information collected
from various sources here and let you form your own opinion.
More on SQ006 Crash
Memorial
Excerpt
of a letter to Forum, The Straits Times of 9 Nov 2000 "...The Singapore Girl
is a much-talked-about icon. To change the attire would be to lose its
essence. The sarong kebaya has never been a safety issue and it never
will. The many reports on the passengers in distress on board SQ006 affirm
this.
"That the cabin crew (both the Singapore Girl and Guy) went out of
their way, to the extent of risking their lives, in helping evacuate the
passengers shows that the uniform did not in any way impede them from
fulfilling their role. All cabin crew are trained to handle emergencies.
Regardless of rank, they have to undergo the annual SEP test...." Veronica CHIN
Excerpt
of a letter to Forum, The Straits Times of 8 Nov 2000 "I am extremely
heartened to read in the newspapers of the acts of bravery of SIA crew
members who risked their lives to save passengers on board SQ006. It does
bring home a very strong message - that Singaporeans do care and have a
big heart. These heroes and heroines had a choice: save their own lives or
other people's lives. They chose the latter. "These saviours had
loving families and some were even breadwinners. But the strong sense of
dedication to their duties and compassion led them to risk their lives to
save others..."
Delphine CHIN Mei Foong
Excerpt
of a letter to Forum, The Straits Times of 8 Nov 2000 "...How can a rich
country with one of the largest foreign reserves not have ground radar to
detect planes on the runway? How can a typhoon-prone country not have the
latest technology for both air-control tower officials and pilots to
detect the whereabouts of a plane about to take off? How can an airport
with increased air traffic not set up extra safety measures to facilitate
aircraft movement during times of poor visibility? "How can a runway
strewn with heavy equipment not be cordoned off from the main entrance,
especially in the face of a typhoon? How can air-control officers guide
the pilots when they cannot even see the plane from the tower? It is a
case of the blind leading the blind. "While I admire Singapore
Airlines (SIA) for taking full responsibility for the accident, I feel
that the Taiwanese authorities have a lot to answer for..." QUEK Guan Cheng
Excerpt
of a letter to Forum, The Straits Times of 7 Nov 2000
"...As this news unfolded, I was most impressed with Singapore
Airlines' Chief Executive Officer Dr CHEONG Choong Kong for accepting full
responsibility for the tragedy because ' it was SIA's plane' .
"He and SIA did not blame the Taiwan airport controllers. Neither did
he nor SIA blame them for not taking appropriate measures to cordon off
the said runway or for giving clearance for the plane to take off. The
task forward is for the families of the aggrieved to heal the pain and
sorrow.
"A larger task would be for the airlines and airports to recognise
the systemic faults in the present system and take corrective actions to
make flying safer."
TAN Teck Sim
Excerpt
of a letter to Forum, The Straits Times of 7 Nov 2000 "...A former flight
crew member, I am disturbed that the press briefing by the Taiwan Aviation
Safety Council did not include the tower-aircraft and ground
control-aircraft transcripts. The audio tapes of the conversation between
the aircraft and the ground control or tower would have been easier to
transcribe than the aircraft's voice recorders and flight recorders which
require specialised equipment. "Why were these tapes not
presented? The crux of the matter is whether the crew was aware that the
lights on runway 05R were switched on. Lights on the closed runway should
have been off. Taxiing down N1, the pilot would expect to see the first
set of runway lights to his right. If the 05R runway lights were on, then,
he would look for a second set of lights. "Given the poor
visibility at the time, he might not have seen the lights of runway 05L
from his erroneous position on 05R. Were the pilots informed by Notice to
Airmen during the pre-flight briefing that 05R's lights were on? "In normal
circumstances, an aircraft is guided from push back at the gate to the
take-off position by ground control on the ground frequency. Just before
takeoff, communication is switched to the tower for take-off instructions.
These transcripts will provide vital information as to: - whether the aircraft was
guided to the wrong runway by ground control. If visibility is poor,
pilots sometimes ask for detailed assistance to taxi into the take-off
runway
- whether the pilots were told the lights on runway 05R were switched on
as well. This should have alerted them to look for the second set of
runway lights
- whether there was any recording of the China Airlines pilots informing
either ground control or the tower that they had seen SQ006 line up on the
wrong runway, or they had kept silent and watched the Singapore Airlines
flight take off..."
Richard YEO Sai Boo Comments of Senior Minister LEE Kuan Yew on 5 Nov
2000
"..It's unfortunate. We can demoralise ourselves or we can say, '
Let's overcome, let's press on. Make sure it doesn't happen again, restore
our position'. "
"I think that, in the circumstances, they did well and I like the
decisive way in which the CEO accepts responsibility. We do not shirk our
responsibility. It's a mistake by the pilot, the company is
responsible." Excerpt of a letter to Forum,
The Straits Times of 4 Nov 2000 "...I also call upon all
Singaporeans, particularly affected families and relatives, to sympathise
with the management and staff of Singapore Airlines, who have been
saddened by this tragic accident and are trying their best to deal with
the situation.
"...As a frequent business flyer, I have never hesitated to fly on
our national carrier and even though I travel in economy class, I had
excellent service from the crew. I am confident SIA did not compromise
when it came to the safety of its passengers and crew members. "However, I should
point out that we should all learn from this very painful and unfortunate
event and everything must be done to prevent similar tragedies." TAY Soon Ann
Excerpt
of an article, VIEWPOINT by Monica GWEE, in The Straits Times of 3 Nov
2000
"...The crash at Taipei's Chiang Kai Shek Airport has changed many
lives. In the starkest and most brutal manner, the airline with the
inflight service even other airlines talk about, came of age. And now the
maturation truly begins.
"It is human to lash out at a time of anguish, natural to find
someone to blame, somewhere where anger, personal devastation and an
overwhelming sense of loss may be directed. It is the stuff of being
human.
"Airplanes crash around the world, perhaps less frequently than the
number of planes and air traffic conditions in the busy skies might
suggest in the law of probability. It is the wonder of modern technology
and its accompanying downside. For it never happens to you until it
happens to you. And then it is so painful you cannot bear it... "The pity of this
crash, like other recent crashes, is that the electronic speed of global
media in our times determines that intensely private moments of grief,
sorrow and anguish are peddled like coloured T-shirts from one media
source to another...
"And so I saw my favourite airline, the airline I insist on flying
whenever possible, the one I recommend unreservedly to anyone who has
never tried it, I saw my wonderful airline, coping with the worst
nightmare any airline must face when it takes on the responsibility of
flying people around the world in giant metal tubes with wings... Monica Gwee |
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