"The simulation of the take-off is slated for 8:30 pm," prosecutor Song Kuo-yeh told AFP.

"We hope to get a clear picture as to how the crash happened," he said, but refused to go into details.

Nor would he say if the three SIA pilots who survived the crash would return to the scene. "They may or may not join us," Song said.

Eighty-three out of the 179 people on board the 747-400 passenger aircraft, including 159 passengers and 20 crew, were killed when the plane tried to take off in a rainstorm at Chiang Kai-shen International Airport, some 40 kilometers (24 miles) south of the capital Taipei, on October 31.

Initial inquiries suggested the jet tried to take off from the 05L runway, which was closed for repairs, rammed into heavy equipment and exploded into flames. The SQ006 flight had been cleared to take off from the 05L runway, some 100 (330 feet) meters away.

Captain Foong Chee Kong and co-pilots Latiff Cyrano and Ng Kheng Leng have not been seen in public since the tragedy. They had been barred from leaving Taiwan pending investigations, but earlier this month were told they would be released into the custody of the Singapore Trade Office from December 15.

The Chinese-language China Times said today the three pilots would be asked to recreate the flight using a Boeing SP747-400.

"The prosectors' main concerns would be that if lights of the airport had misled the pilots to the wrong runway," the paper said.

SIA officials accepted full responsibility for the crash but questioned whether his mistake was influenced by misleading lighting and asked why the closed runway was not blocked off.

Taiwan's aviation chief has fervently denied the airport's safety facilities were inadequate and had contributed to the crash.

Song had informed the Singapore Trade Office, which serves as de facto embassy in the absence of diplomatic ties between the two countries, to formally take custody of the three pilots on December 15.

"The trade office will make sure that the trio return to Taiwan if they are needed in further investigations or at trials," he added.

Taiwan prosecutors have hinted the pilots may be charged with causing death by negligence if they are found to be at fault.

In a plea for the release of the three pilots earlier this month, the England-based International Federation of Air Line Pilots Association (IFALPA) said the refusal to let them leave Taiwan could not be justified, and warned of consequences.

IFALPA, representing more than 100,000 pilots worldwide, said nothing further could be achieved by the "continued detention" of the three pilots.