The crew of the Singapore Airlines (SIA) Boeing 747-400 that crashed at Taipei in October 2000 has been summoned back to Taiwan for questioning and may possibly face prosecution.
The summons came days after Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council (ASC) released its final report into the crash that killed 83 of the 179 people on board.
The Taoyuan District Attorney's Office, which had warned soon after the accident that it may prosecute the pilots, has scheduled a hearing for 8 May in Taipei, where the three flightcrew will be given a chance to respond to the ASC's findings.
The 747, operating as flight SQ006 for Los Angeles, crashed on take-off from Chiang Kai Shek Airport shortly before midnight on 31 October as a typhoon was approaching.
Taiwanese prosecutors held the crew in Taipei for nearly two months after the accident.
The pilots were eventually allowed to return to Singapore after SIA and the city state's government gave assurances the crew would return to Taiwan if called.
Source: Flight International
