English Task- Khit Sue Lun (07)

2. Write out 5 main points from the article on why you think the accident occurred and in your opinion, whether the pilots were at fault. Remember to provide EVIDENCE to support your opinion.

Why did the accident occur?

- The weather conditions, such as the strong winds and heavy rains which reduced visibility.

- Lack of a ground monitoring system/ground radar led to pilots taking the wrong track- the track under repair.

- Confusion in numbering of tracks- The intended runway was near the one under repair and the two had almost identical identification numbers, adding to the chance of confusion.

- Repaired runway was not completely cordoned off. 

- Runways might not be correctly lit- While the centre lights were operating, investigators have yet to determine whether the "edge lights" running along the sides of the closed runway were on or off. "If the lights on the runway were not on, then the runway would not have looked like a runway.

Are the pilots at fault?

I agree that the pilots were partially at fault. Being trained pilots, they should be able to make the correct judgement, and decide if the plane was to take off considering the weather/wind factors. The Taiwanese carrier EVA Air had scrapped three flights shortly before the Singapore Airline crash, because crosswinds had reached more than 88 kph. This showed that there was indeed a risk of weather conditions interrupting the success of the takeoff, and the pilots did not make the correct choice in such situations. Yet, there were many external factors, and they could not be completely blamed for the accident too. According to San Francisco-based attorney Gerald Sterns, who specialises in representing air crash victims' families, under such conditions the control tower should have warned the pilots by radio about the closed runway. "The 'black box' cockpit recorder indicated that wasn't done with the Singapore Airlines flight," he said. This shows that the airport had many faults too, including failure to inform the pilots of the closed runway, not completely cordoning off the repaired runway and the possibility that the runway was not correctly lit, which would lead to the pilots thinking that the runway they should have taken was not a runway as the lights were not on. The airport also lacked a ground monitoring system, and was unable to notify the pilots that they were on the wrong track as they were unable to see the plane from the control tower due to poor visibility brought on by the rains. Hence, the pilots were not completely at fault, and the burden of this accident has to be shared between the pilots themselves, the airport and of course, the raging stormy weather.

Cheers,
Khit Sue Lun
khitsuelun@gmail.com