SIA explains why 2 SQ 006 pilots had to go
Also in this evening's Singapore Straits Times ( please also see the update that I have made to the post on ALPA-S action ).
Cheers
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SQ006 accident
SIA explains why 2 pilots had to go
By Dominic Nathan
DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
INVESTIGATIONS into the crash of Flight SQ 006, which killed 83 people in Taipei two years ago, did not fully exonerate the two pilots at the controls.
That is why Singapore Airlines terminated their services, the carrier said. It revealed for the first time why it had asked Captain Foong Chee Kong, 43, and First Officer Latiff Cyrano, 38, to leave, in a circular to its pilots obtained by The Straits Times yesterday.
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Signed by Major-General (NS) Raymund Ng, SIA's senior vice-president for flight operations, the circular said: 'The two investigation reports did not exonerate the two pilots concerned completely, notwithstanding the fact that there were serious deficiencies at Chiang Kai-shek Airport that fateful day.'Eighty-three people died and many others went through untold suffering. We as an airline cannot ignore these facts .Unpleasant as it was, for the general good of the company, we had to let the two pilots go.'
The reports referred to were the crash investigation findings released in April this year by Singapore's Transport Ministry and Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council.
While the Taiwanese pinned the blame largely on the pilots, for trying to take off from a closed runway, the Singapore report concluded that there was a combination of factors, and airport deficiencies played a sizeable role in what happened.
The ministry described it as an 'accident waiting to happen' and not the fault of any individuals.
In the circular, Major- General Ng went on to say that the airline had done what it could for the two pilots by keeping them on as employees after the accident on Oct 31, 2000.
'We did all we could do to ensure that the pilots were not prosecuted in Taiwan, and took care of all their legal fees and security arrangements in Taiwan.'
He noted that the company had also signed an undertaking with the Taiwanese government, promising to use its best efforts to ensure that the pilots returned to Taiwan when required.
'This was a risky undertaking, because if the pilots subsequently refused to return to Taipei, there was really nothing the company could do,' he explained.
He said that 'at no time did we give anyone the impression that we would retain them should they get their licences back or otherwise'. In fact, he said, a request for such an undertaking, made by the Air Line Pilots Association (Singapore) or Alpa-S, was rejected by SIA.
Captain Foong and First Officer Latiff were told on July 26 that the airline was exercising a clause in their contracts that allowed their services to be terminated, with three months' salary paid in lieu of notice.
The third man in the cockpit, First Officer Ng Kheng Leng, 40, remains with the airline.
SIA gave no reasons for its actions at the time.
In the circular, Major-General Ng said SIA had been advised by its lawyers to say nothing until the lawsuits against the company had been settled, although the three pilots and the association were informed of the reasons when the pilots were told to go.
Alpa-S declined to comment on the national carrier's circular yesterday, but when the news broke last month, it said it was disgusted, disappointed and shocked, because the pilots had cooperated fully with SIA throughout investigations.
The International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations called SIA's action 'unjust, unwarranted and unreasonable'.
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