SIA pilots suspended

SIA pilots suspended

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore Airlines has suspended the captain and first officer of an Airbus A-310 that was involved in a near- collision with a Malaysian Airlines System (MAS) Boeing 737-400 jet last week, airline sources said yesterday.

The identities of the two pilots are being withheld, pending investigations into the incident, which occurred in hazy conditions as the two aircraft were about to land at the trouble- plagued Kuala Lumpur international airport.

The MAS plane was forced to abort its landing after the SIA aircraft, which had been trailing behind, somehow reached the runway first, according to accounts of the incident in Kuala Lumpur.

The near-miss was the second in three weeks, after fire knocked out the airport's multi-million-dollar approach radar on Aug. 13, plunging airline schedules into chaos.