Singapore Airlines Flight 006

Information
Singapore Airlines Flight 006 is an incident in which the plane burst into flames during takeoff on a closed runway on the night of October 31th, 2000.

Pilots
The captain of the flight was Foong Chee Kong, 41 years old. He was an experienced pilot with a total of 11,235 recorded flight hours, of which 2,017 of them were in Boeing 747-400 aircraft. The first officer, Latiff Cyrano, 36 years old, had 2,442 total flight hours, including 552 hours on the Boeing 747-400. The third member of the crew was relief pilot Ng Kheng Leng, 38 years old, with approximately 5,508 total flight hours, including 4,518 hours on the Boeing 747-400.

Background
At 23:00 Taipei local time (15:00 UTC) on 31 October 2000, 9V-SPK left Bay B5 during heavy rain caused by Typhoon Xangsane. At 23:05:57, ground control cleared the aircraft to taxi to runway 05L via taxiway SS WC then NP. At 23:15:22, the aircraft was cleared for takeoff on runway 05L. Many carriers in Southeast and East Asia take off during inclement weather.

After a six-second hold, at 23:16:36, the crew attempted takeoff on runway 05R – which had been closed for repairs – instead of the assigned runway 05L (which ran parallel to 05R). The captain correctly heard that he needed to take off at 05L, but he turned 215 metres (705 ft) too soon and lined up with 05R. The airport was not equipped with ASDE, a ground radar that allows the air traffic controllers to monitor aircraft movements on the ground. Due to poor visibility in the heavy rain, the flight crew did not see that construction equipment, including two excavators, two vibrating rollers, one small bulldozer, and one air compressor, had been parked on runway 05R. In addition, the runway contained concrete Jersey barriers and pits. About 41 seconds later, the aircraft collided with the machinery and broke into three major pieces. The fuselage was torn in two, and the engines and landing gear separated. A crane tore the left wing from the aircraft, forcing the jet back onto the ground. The nose struck a scoop loader, with a following large fire, destroying the forward section of the fuselage and the wings. Seventy-nine of 159 passengers and four of 20 crew members died in the accident. Many of the dead were seated in the middle section of the aircraft; the fuel stored in the wings exploded and incinerated that section. At 23:17:36, the emergency bell sounded and 41 firefighting vehicles, 58 ambulances, nine lighting units, and 436 personnel were dispatched to assist survivors and extinguish the fire. Chemical extinguishing agents rained on the aircraft at about three minutes after the impact. At 23:35, roughly 10 minutes after the impact, the fire was brought under control. At 23:40, non-airport ambulances and emergency vehicles from other agencies congregated at the north gate. At 00:00 Taipei time on 1 November, the fire was mostly extinguished and the front part of the aircraft was destroyed. Authorities established a temporary command center. This was the first accident that occurred in the taiwaneese soil.

May all 83 passengers died in this accident, Rest In Peace