Investigations into the 1997 crash of a SilkAir Boeing 737-300 in Sumatra have been completed, but the report has yet to be written, according to the Singapore Government.
Singapore's communications and information technology minister Yeo Cheow Tong says that the Indonesian Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission (AAIC) chairman and chief investigator Oetarjo Diran has told the Singapore Government that the work has been finished and a final report should be issued before the third anniversary of the crash on 19 December this year.
The 737-300 came down en route from Jakarta to Singapore, entering a steep dive with engines at high power until impact. All 97 passengers and seven crew aboard were killed. There was no distress call and both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were found to have stopped just before the descent began.
Revelations of severe financial difficulties and disciplinary actions affecting the aircraft's captain, Tsu Way Ming, have led to the theory that the aircraft was brought down deliberately. Singapore police investigations into the possibility that this was a case of "suicide-cum-murder" are continuing.
Source: Flight International
