- TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan
investigators on Tuesday ruled out pilot error as the reason for the mid-air
break-up of a China Airlines jet a month ago, but they have yet to determine
the cause of the crash that killed all 225 people on board.
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- Kay Yong, managing director of Taiwan's Aviation Safety
Council who is in charge of the investigation, said there was no evidence
to show "external forces" caused the Boeing 747-200 to break
apart at over 30,000 feet (9,000 meters).
-
- A total of 161 bodies and wreckage recovered so far indicated
no fire or explosion on board the aircraft, Yong said.
-
- The 23-year-old Hong Kong-bound jet crashed into the
Taiwan Strait off western Taiwan about 20 minutes after takeoff on May
25.
-
- Divers and salvage teams have recovered about 10 to 15
percent of the aircraft and the two "black box" recorders.
-
- Yong said the black boxes had shown that flight operations,
or issues related to how pilots fly aircraft, which were responsible for
70 percent of accidents, could be ruled out.
-
- "The most important finding for us (from the black
boxes) is that we can rule out flight operations," he said.
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- Yong said the flight data recorder showed an unusual
rise in the climb rate and vertical acceleration before the crash, but
said the abnormalities were within the acceptable range.
-
- On Sunday, the council said investigators heard a series
of unidentified sounds in the cockpit recordings before the crash.
-
- "The unidentified sounds and unusual climb rate
are the focus," Yong told a news conference.
-
- Last month, the council ruled out weather and air traffic
control as possible causes.
-
- Aviation experts have put forward several theories for
the crash, including metal fatigue, an internal explosion, a mid-air collision
or a military accident.
-
- Investigators need to recover at least 70-80 percent
to be able to reconstruct the aircraft and determine the cause, a lengthy
process that could take years, Yong said.
-
- "It is a very tough case for investigators,"
he said.
-
- The disaster was China Airlines' fourth fatal accident
since 1994. Together, the accidents have claimed more than 650 lives.
-
- U.S. experts who investigated the mid-air explosion of
a Trans World Airlines Boeing 747 off New York in 1996 are in Taiwan to
help investigate the crash.
-
- China Airlines offered relatives of each victim T$12.5
million ($317,000) in compensation, but they rejected it. Some demanded
the carrier pay punitive compensation for its poor safety record.
-
- Relatives have vented their anger at the government and
the airline for delays in recovering bodies and at the carrier's record.
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