In a statement issued by the ministry of communications, the government pledged "all possible action" would be taken to prevent a recurrence of the accident.

"It is not clear what factors and prevailing conditions could have caused this error," the statement said

Taiwan investigators said today the pilot of the jumbo jet correctly acknowledged his takeoff clearance from the control tower but went ahead and used the wrong runway.

Singapore investigators and civil aviation officials who have gone to Taipei to assist with the investigation, have been instructed "to leave no stone unturned" in searching for the cause of the accident, the government said.

"Singapore will be judged by how open we are about how the accident happened, how much we learn from it, and what systems we put in place so as not to repeat them."

The Boeing 747 on a flight to Los Angeles with 159 passengers and 20 crew crashed at Taipei's Chiang Kai Shek Airport while taking off in a heavy rainstorm on Tuesday, killing 81 people.