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".