As a CKS Int'l Airport Tower controller, I found out that some of the issues raised by this SIN news agency are UNTRUE. Hereby I'd like to clearify some points for the general aviation society. 1. "We redrew the taxi lines in the area two weeks ago." I can confirm this because I was the ground controller one of those two days and I blocked TWY SS section by section to let those main- tainence personnel go onto TWY SS to redrew the TWY lines, including those at issue directing to remote apron 609/610 and TWY S5. We appreciate SIA's previous wrong turn and report, though the wrong turn at that intersection is really rarely seen comparing to those flights of other airlines taxi out from terminal 2 via TWY S5, SP. I personelly believe after the TWY line re-drawing work, it's REALLY CLEAR ENOUGH !!! 2. "Without realizing it" ??? ==>> "> Ground crew nearby who saw the incident reported it to airport authorities who then notified the captain, seven minutes after takeoff." Actually Tower ATC was informed also by the ground crew nearby, but at that specific time SIA29 was rolling. According to any country's air traffic procedure I believe, the regulation do not allow ATC to interfere pilots' operation during critical phase like taking-off and landing on short final. Tower ATC inform both radar departure controller and area center ATC. SIA29 flight crew was informed by those ATCs 3 TIMES the plane hit ground maintainence equipment during the wrong turn, and request if the crew would like to requrn flight to check but the crew refuse to do so. Informed 3 TIMES but REFUSE TO GO BACK HAVE A CHECK !!! My personelly opinion, this is a very bad example of reckless and louzy airmanship with almost 400 people onboard. You can easily imagine it by the similiar situation that if your car is scratched by someone or something, you're definitely gonna stop the car and have a look first right ?? ... SIA29 crew refused to do that, for those 400 SOULS ON BOARD. And you may review the tail stands which were hit, and how close the wingtip was to the building and lighting pole. Be advice that some of the debris was moved from the ground as evidence and not decided yet if it was from the tail stands or FELL FROM THE WINGTIP! http://www.henrysky.idv.tw/photo/tail.jpg ----- Original Message ----- From: "Russell Ng" <russng@singnet.com.sg> To: <AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU> Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 7:10 AM Subject: Re: SQ Accident in Taipei > Dear Friends > > Here's an article from today's Sunday Times. On Friday, an SQ aircraft took > a wrong turn through a parking bay and hit two tailstands. Without > realizing it, the crew took off and landed in Singapore without incident. > Here the report: > > begin==> > > Plane's Wrong Turn > Taipei airport knew about unclear taxi-line markings > > A letter was sent by an SIA pilot alerting airport officials to the problem > a few weeks before SQ29 made a wrong turn > > By Goh Sui Noi > TAIWAN CORRESPONDENT > > TAIPEI - The Taiwan airport authorities yesterday confirmed they had > received recent feedback that there were unclear taxi-line markings in the > area where a Singapore Airlines (SIA) plane made a wrong turn on Friday. > > The feedback letter, received about a month ago, was from an SIA pilot, > said deputy director of Chiang Kai Shek airport terminal Wei Sheng-tzi. > > The airport had then sent a safety bulletin to airlines to pay special > attention to taxi-line markings in the area. > > This was because 'we were afraid that people might make a mistake', said Mr > Wei. 'We redrew the taxi lines in the area two weeks ago.' > > A spokesman for SIA yesterday confirmed that one of the airline's pilots > had made a report last month about unclear markings at the airport. > > The pilot had pointed out that the markings 'could cause misunderstanding'. > > 'We suggested to the airport whether it wanted to review this,' said the > spokesman. > > As for Friday's incident, Mr Wei suggested that the flight crew of SQ29, > which had turned into a remote parking bay instead of a designated taxiway, > could have mistakenly followed a taxi line that led into the parking bay. > > Aviation Safety Council chief Yong Kay on Friday said checks by his > investigators showed that signage for the designated taxiway was in > accordance with international standards, but that he was not sure about > other markings. > > The Taipei Times newspaper yesterday quoted airport officials as saying > that SIA pilots were not familiar enough with the airport's layout. > > SIA started using Terminal 2 of the airport in May. It had hitherto been > using Terminal 1 (see diagram). > > On Friday, the Singapore-bound SIA jet had pushed back from gate C6 at 7.18 > am and taxied east along taxiway SS on its way to the runway. > > It should have made a right turn into taxiway S5 and then a left into > taxiway SP. > > However, the Boeing 747-400 turned too early into a parking bay. The flight > captain was told by air traffic control that he had made a wrong turn, and > he apologised for it. > > Both air traffic control and flight crew were unaware that the aircraft's > right wing had brushed against two tailstands in an equipment area nearby, > knocking them over. > > The parking bay, meant for smaller aircraft such as B757s and is 57.4 m in > width, did not have enough clearance for the 64 m wingspan of the SIA jet. > > Ground crew nearby who saw the incident reported it to airport authorities > who then notified the captain, seven minutes after takeoff. > > After some checks, the captain decided to continue on to Singapore, where > inspection of the plane showed slight damage to a wing panel. > > Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration is investigating the incident > while SIA and the Transport Ministry of Singapore are also conducting their > own investigations
