Why did the accident occur?
1. Bad Weather conditions - tropical storm Xangsan was approaching Taiwan. Winds of up to 144 kph and heavy rain was lashing the airport causing poor visibility. The runway the plane was supposed to be on was near to one under repair and two had almost identical identification numbers, adding to the confusion.
2. Lack of proper facilities for the pilot - The airport is not equipped with ground radar so the control tower could not visually check if the plane was on the correct runway. Also, CAA spokesman Kay Yong also says that at the night "visibility was too low to physically see the jet from the tower".
3. Work stress of the pilot - Pilots need to keep strictly to their tight schedules and hence delays are costly. "Obviously pilots are under pressure from airlines to maintain tight schedules and avoid costly delays" Hong Kong-based aviation expert Jim Eckes this week called for the procedure to be changed, insisting that it should be the responsibility of airports to shut down in extremely bad weather.
4. Misunderstanding/Confusion - Another reason this occurred is due to misunderstandings or confusion that happened between Taipei and Singapore. There can be some discrepancies between reported weather and real weather conditions. The information given could be that it wasn't "real time", that is, it is dated.
5. Lack of guidance for the pilot - Lastly, this could happen because the pilots do not have enough help or guidance from the airport authority. The airport authority has more advanced radar technology and other instruments that is useful and critical in flying the plane. However, the airport authority might not bring this vital information to the pilots themselves. Eckes says "Pilots need help, especially in difficult conditions. There are turbulence or wind shear problems which the plane's system doesn't indicate."
My own opinion
I don't think the pilots were totally at fault. The pilot is pressured to follow his schedule closely and at the same time maintain the safety of all his passengers. Therefore, there is a a lot of stress on the pilots. Due to this stress, the pilots could be forced to carry out a few decisions that they might feel is not right. In the passage, it states that "Runways are only closed if pilots insist on flying in conditions that the airport authorities feel present an 'immediate danger to the aircraft'." Hong Kong-based aviation expert also agrees that "it should be the responsibility of airports to shut down in extremely bad weather". Therefore, the pilots do not have much say whether they want to fly the plane or not.
Wee Ren Chang S3-09, (21)
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