Scapegoats - Yan Jin

Main points on why accident occurred
- Attempting to take off in typhoon conditions. "Los Angeles-bound flight had attempted to take off in typhoon conditions". This caused poor visibility, which lead to the next point.

- The intended runway was near one under repair which also had almost identical identifications numbers. "The intended runway was near the one under repair and the two had almost identical identification numbers, adding to the chance of confusion." Thus with poor visibility, it was easy to go to the wrong runway.

- Pilot error: They were under pressure to comply to the schedule and avoid expensive delays thus decided to take off. "Obviously pilots are under pressure from airlines to maintain tight schedules and avoid costly delays."

- Taipei not following regulations: By disobeying the International airport regulations, they did not cordon off the runway under repair, as it would create delays for planes lining up for departure. "International airport regulations require a runway under repair to be cordoned off." By disobeying the Boeing's guideline, they took off when the crosswinds was high, and made a false claim of figures. "Singapore Airlines follows Boeing's guideline of allowing takeoffs if crosswinds are lower than 55.2 kph. The airline claims that crosswinds were blowing at no more than 27.2 kph... crosswinds had reached more than 88 kph"

- Ground radar was not equipped in the airport (As it was expensive), thus the control tower could not visually confirm if the plane was on the right runway. "The airport is not equipped with ground radar so the control tower could not visually check if the plane was on the correct runway."

Thus the plane struck a metre-high concrete barrier and some construction equipment, splitting the plane into three pieces and causing many deaths.

I feel that the pilots are partially, but not fully, at fault. They should not be held fully responsible and used as scapegoats to cover for the mistakes of others. They definitely should not be trialled for "involuntary manslaughter". Taipei airport authorities are at fault for not following International airport regulations, not cordoning off the runway, not reporting through radio of the closed runway, reporting typhoon crosswinds that are not real time (And refuse to reveal how long ago the data was recorded), and allowing the plane to take off under such conditions. This is all for the sake of saving money. Singapore Airlines' pilots should be held partially responsible for deciding to take off even though they saw the horrible weather. All these airport authorities just want to keep their high-paying jobs and not be held liable for their own problems.

- Yan Jin