S'pore crash probe zeros in on cause

S'pore crash probe zeros in on cause

SINGAPORE (AFP): Investigators have ruled out terrorism,
weather and aircraft maintenance as possible causes of a
Singapore SilkAir jet crash that killed all 104 people on board a
year ago, a report said on Friday.

The possibility of the Boeing 737 aircraft carrying hazardous
materials had also been ruled out, the investigators in Jakarta
told Television Corp. of Singapore ahead of the first anniversary
of the crash on Saturday.

Even though the possible causes had been narrowed down,
investigators had 12 scenarios in which the crash could have
happened and were "exploring various combinations of potential
malfunctions", the report said.

Flight MI-185 plunged into a river near Palembang on the
Indonesian island of Sumatra on its way to Singapore from
Jakarta. The television report said the probe team was now
looking closely at "engineering factors, human factors and
aircraft structure".