A Singapore Airlines 747-400, in the airline's special "Tropical" paint scheme, taxis at Singapore Changi Airport. The aircraft involved in today's accident was one of two planes painted in these special colors. (Photo: Michael Leung)

A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 bound for Los Angeles crashed seconds after takeoff in the Taiwan capital during a typhoon Tuesday and at least 47 bodies were pulled from the wreckage.

Taiwan authorities fear the death toll could hit 100.

Some 48 people were still unaccounted for after the crash of Flight SQ006, an official with the rescue center of the Transportation Ministry told Reuters.

There were 68 people being treated in hospitals and 16 escaped injury, the official said.

Taiwan Premier Chang Chun-hsiung said he feared the death toll could reach 100.

``I feel very sad because there are many casualties,'' he told a news conference. ``There are 179 people on board and maybe 100 people dead.''

The SIA Boeing 747-400 crashed seconds after takeoff at 11:18 p.m. local time during a storm and exploded in flames.

``The flight commander reported hitting an object on the takeoff run,'' the airline said in a statement. Wind shear -- a sudden change in wind direction at an aircraft's takeoff or landing -- was also a possible cause, officials and witnesses said.

The airline did not confirm any deaths, but a spokesman in Los Angeles said there had been 68 injuries and that the cockpit crew escaped unscathed.

　

(Reuters)

There were 159 passengers and 20 crew aboard the flight.

It was the second crash at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taipei in just over two years, and the first fatal accident for Singapore Airlines, established in 1972. A Boeing 737 belonging to SIA subsidiary SilkAir crashed in Indonesia in December 1997, killing 104.

The plane crashed a year to the day after EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed into the Atlantic off the coast of Massachusetts, killing all 217 on board.

Survivors of Tuesday's crash said the plane began to shake seconds after takeoff. Then an explosion blew debris through the cabin and the plane crashed back down to the tarmac.

``And then there were flames just all over the place. Flames shot up right next to me and some some poor fellow not very far from me got, I guess, jet fuel splashed on him, because he just lit up like a torch,'' John Diaz, from New Orleans, told CNN.

American Richard Maneth, 39, told Reuters he walked from the aircraft unaided.

``I could feel the aircraft shaking during takeoff,'' he said. ``A few seconds after, the aircraft rolled to the left side. Flame was coming from the left side -- I could see some people were burned, but I was not sure if they were dead.''

Television footage showed one side of the jet's front had been destroyed. The rear end of the aircraft and tail loomed out of the smoke on the tarmac.

``Many of the injured suffered burns, and several were in shock,'' said a doctor at a local hospital, adding that the victims reeked of jet fuel.

Yu Lu-yun, a 46-year old Taiwan businessman traveling business class, said the plane ``just fell'' seconds after takeoff.

``Then there was fire on the left side of the cabin, and then smoke everywhere,'' he said.

Fire engines, ambulances and emergency crews in yellow rain gear, some carrying body bags, were combing the wreckage and rushing the injured to hospitals.

Chiang Kai-shek International Airport had been shut down, and all flights in and out canceled, officials said.

A spokesman for Singapore's Foreign Ministry said a hot line for relatives had been set up at 65-332-0000. Part of Changi airport in Singapore had been cordoned off for families awaiting information.

It was the first major crash in Taiwan since 1998. In February that year, 202 people were killed when a China Airlines Airbus A300-600R crashed in the island's worst aviation disaster.

Typhoon Xangsane, packing maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and gusts of up to 103 mph, brought steady rain to Taiwan throughout the night of the accident.

Related Links:

- Singapore Airlines - Official Website
- Boeing 747-400 Information - Boeing.Com
- Previous 747 Accidents - AirDisaster.Com

Singapore Airlines crash survivors tried hatchets

The charred remains of a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 jetliner lay on the runway of Taiwan's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taipei, Wednesday, Nov. 1.  (AP Photo)

As flames licked at the escape hatches and fumes filled the cabin, Doug Villermin struggled to escape the Singapore Airlines jetliner that caught fire Tuesday after slamming into something during a stormy takeoff.

``I ran to the escape hatch with the stewardess but we couldn't get it open,'' said Villermin, 33, of New Iberia, La. ``Two feet away from me, I saw flames and we decided not to open it. Everyone was just panicking.''

Villermin — standing outside a hospital in this Taipei suburb while wrapped in a tunic and smoking a cigarette — said he eventually pushed open an escape hatch on the top of the plane.

``The fumes were just incredible,'' he said. ``But eventually we got it open.''

``There was this one woman who was frozen,'' he said. ``She just wouldn't move and said she would wait for help. Eventually she got out. We were just all so scared it was going to blow up.''

Villermin and two other survivors said they felt the plane slam into something on the runway while trying to take off at Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport. Airline officials said the pilot also reported hitting an object on the runway, but no one offered an explanation of what it might have been. A China Airways official denied initial reports that the jumbo jet had hit one of its planes on the ground.

Other survivors on the Los Angeles-bound jetliner also described how they were trapped in the burning wreckage of the Boeing 747-400 series plane.

British citizen Steven Courtney, who was sitting in the rear of the plane, said, ``I went to the rear exit door but that was jammed and I couldn't get to the other side. Flames were everywhere.

``The exit door at the back was jammed, but somebody said to go forward so we went forward. It took a while, but we tried to keep as calm as possible,'' he said.

Some survivors said they felt a jolt as the plane went down the runway during a rainstorm.

New Zealand citizen Tonya Joy, 37, said, ``I couldn't tell if we hit another aircraft. ... I don't think we were airborne when it happened.

``I felt two hits and we twisted around twice,'' Joy said. ``I jumped out of the top and landed on the ground.''