A Singapore Airlines' Boeing 747-400 jetliner, carrying 159 passengers and 20 crew, bound for Los Angeles, crashed shortly after takeoff at CKS International Airport at 11:18pm last night.
As of press time, however, there were no definite figures concerning deaths or serious injuries from the accident.
PHOTO: TONY YAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Windshear apparently caused the plane to lose altitude upon takeoff. It then crashed, and reportedly exploded and caught fire.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
There was an explosion as the plane struck a China Airlines plane on the runway, emergency official Wu Bi-chang said.
The Singapore flight was reported to be flight SQ006, originating in Singapore and bound for the US west coast, scheduled to depart CKS at 10:55pm and arrive in Los Angeles at 6:15pm today.
There were 81 Taiwanese passengers aboard.
Some injured passengers were rushed to Tayuan Hospital, close by the airport.
The accident took place as Typhoon Xangsane was approaching Taiwan causing high winds and heavy rain islandwide.
James Boyd, Singapore airlines spokesman, speaking from Los Angeles, told the Fox News Channel that there were no fatalities, but there were about 30 injuries.
Most of the injuries did not appear serious, officials in Taipei said.
After the crash, the plane's blue fuselage appeared badly burned, with a gaping hole in the roof.
John Diaz, a passenger on the flight, told CNN the flames "shot up right next to me" as the plane tried to take off. He said there was ``heavy, heavy rain'' at the time.
"When I got the airport conditions were so bad, and I asked them, `is the flight going to take off?'" Diaz said. "And they said, `we do this all the time, it's fine.'"
Diaz disputed the claim that their were no deaths.
"There had to be fatalities," he said. Describing the crash, he said there was a loud bang. "And then there were flames just all over the place. Flames shot up right next to me and some some poor fellow not very far from me got I guess jet fuel splashed on him, because he just lit up like a torch.
"There were a lot of cuts, there were a lots of burns. One gentleman...was severely, severely, severely burned. There were a lot of burns because there was jet fuel all over the place."
Another passenger was quoted as saying he saw a woman die of her injuries in hospital.
The Veterans General Hospital reported at around 1:45 pm that one passenger had died of her injuries.
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS