TAIPEI, Taiwan — Sobbing and clutching onto one another, relatives began the grim process Thursday of identifying the bodies of the 81 people killed on a Singapore Airlines flight, including at least 23 Americans.
Taiwanese safety officials shed little new light on the cause of the disaster — but they were able to provide some details about what happened.
The Boeing 747-400 bound for Los Angeles was traveling at 145 mph when the accident occurred — too fast to abort the takeoff attempt — according to Kay Yong, managing director of Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council.
Survivors say they felt Flight SQ006 hit something as the jet barreled down the runway late Tuesday. Yong declined comment on whether the airplane struck anything but said officials might be able to better explain it by Friday.
Emotions also ran high in Singapore, where the brother of a man who died burst into a nationally televised Singapore Airlines news conference to denounce the airline, ending the briefing.
Officials began analyzing the plane's "black boxes," or flight data and voice cockpit recorders, and a team of about 50 investigators from the United States, Taiwan and Singapore climbed through the wreckage of the Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet to gather evidence.
They took note of a shredded tire and a jet engine planted deep in the ground, while sifting through smaller pieces of wreckage and putting some in plastic bags.
Yong could not say whether the jet ever became airborne. But he ruled out one theory of the disaster, saying the pilot had not somehow swerved onto the wrong runway.
The death toll rose to 81 on Thursday when the bodies of two missing people were identified. Most of the victims were Americans or Taiwanese. Another 40 people were hospitalized, and 58 suffered minor injuries or escaped unhurt.
Survivors say they felt Los Angeles-bound Flight SQ006 hit something as the plane barreled down the runway late Tuesday. But early speculation also pointed to the gusts of wind and the torrential rains that were lashing the airport as a typhoon closed in on the island.
At the Singapore news conference, Tan Yin Leong said he learned of his brother's death in news reports but the airline would not give him any information.
"Please tell the press the true story," Tan pleaded to Rick Clements, the airline's vice president for public affairs. "Don't hide any more!"
A security agent tried to take Tan away, but Clements insisted that he be allowed to stay. Looking exhausted, Tan gasped for breath as he spoke for several minutes in front of TV cameras and reporters. His tearful daughter, Natali, stood behind him.
When Tan finished speaking, Clements put his arm around him and ended the news conference. "That was obviously a very distressing moment for all of us, especially for that poor gentleman who lost his brother," Clements said.
Tan Yip Thong was listed as dead or missing.
A similar outburst by the victim's sister-in-law, Chua Geok Hong, ended a televised news conference early Thursday in Taipei by the airline's chief executive, Cheong Choong Kong.
Some relatives have blamed the pilot, Capt. C.K. Foong, for the tragedy.
Singapore Airlines — which had not had a major accident in 28 years of operations — defended Foong, saying conditions were safe enough that other planes were taking off and landing late Tuesday.
Taiwanese aviation official Billy K.C. Chang said visibility levels and winds were well within established limits.
But a Taiwanese carrier, EVA Airways, said Thursday that before Flight SQ006 took off, EVA had canceled three flights at about the same time because crosswinds exceeded its safety threshold of 55 mph.
EVA spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei said the disclosure was not intended as a criticism of Singapore Airlines. He added that the canceled flights were to have used aircraft with large cargo doors, making them more vulnerable to winds.
Control towers typically monitor wind speed and direction, visibility, air traffic and other factors before authorizing takeoffs, especially during storms such as typhoons. It is then up to the pilot to decide whether to go ahead.
Most of the corpses were stored in body bags in a vacant terminal at the airport. Lined up in neat rows, the 70 or so bodies were laid next to caskets of honey pine and dark cherry wood.
As guards stood at attention near the coffins, dozens of Buddhists circled around them, chanting and rhythmically ringing bells in a ceremony to honor the dead.
One woman who entered the hall to examine the bodies dropped to her knees, sobbing hard as she appeared to recognize a corpse. As she lowered her head to rest it on the wooden lid of the coffin, relatives patted her back, then held her hand as they led her away.
Outside, a dozen members of the Chinese Christian Relief Association sang to the music of a solo guitarist.
"Today many of our church members will walk together to mark this accident, to worship and praise our lord," said the guitarist, preacher Chao Kao-Ping.
Some of the relatives wailed loudly and others covered their faces with their coats to shield themselves as they walked past television crews and photographers to enter the terminal that had become a makeshift morgue.
Forty-seven passengers were Americans. President Clinton offered condolences Wednesday to those who lost family members and friends.
Also Thursday, Singapore Airlines confirmed that a flight carrying 311 people from Singapore to London turned back immediately after takeoff because of ruptured turbine blades that scattered onto the runway hours before the Flight SQ006 disaster.
On the Net: www.singaporeair.com