Singapore's transportation ministry and SIA had used incorrect data in their respective reports "in an attempt to mislead the public," CAA director general K. C. Chang told reporters.

The Singaporian side had "incorrectly pointed to the airport's current improvement project as evidence for its links to the accident at the time of the disaster," he said.

"The airport improvement measures must not be considered as an admission of its contribution to the accident... because such improvement is a routine operation."

The accusations came after Singapore disputed an investigation conducted by Taiwan's independent Aviation Safety Council (ASC), which attributed pilot error in its final report released Friday as a major factor in the disaster.

But Singapore's ministry of transportion said deficient lighting and runway markers, the lack of physical barriers and clearance from air traffic controllers led the pilots to believe they were taking off from the correct runway during a typhoon.

"None of the deficiencies at the airport on that fateful night are listed on the finding related to probable cause. These factors have been downplayed and are listed only as findings related to risk," said Jaspal Singh, deputy secretary of Singapore's transportation ministry.

However, the Taipei-based United Daily News cited ASC officials as saying that the conclusion drawn by Singapore in its reports were very different from the viewpoints of other international experts consulted by the council.

Taiwan insisted that the airport's shortcomings were "risks and not causes" of the pilots' mistakes, as the pilots had known the runway was closed for work before entering the cockpit.

"The pilots were aware of the closure of runway 5L and should have been extra prudent," CAA director general Chang said.

Pilots Captain Foong Chee Kong, Latiff Cyrano and Ng Kheng Leng used runway 5R for takeoff instead of the parallel assigned 5L strip.

Flight SQ 006, a Boeing 747-400 flight bound for Los Angeles, then exploded after smashing into construction equipment when trying to take off from Chiang Kai-shek airport on October 31, 2000

A total of 83 passengers and crew were killed in the first plane crash in the airlines' 28-year history.

There were 96 survivors including the three pilots, who returned to Singapore in December 2000 after questioning.

Chang also emphasised the CAA was questioned but it didn't participate in the investigation by the ASC.

The ASC report cited at least 10 opportunities when the pilots of SQ 006 could have averted the tragedy if they had used all their equipment and resources properly.

But it also pointed out that adequate warnings should have been posted to enhance the pilots' awareness.

The report included facts, viewpoints and suggestions from the US National Transportation Safety Board, the Singapore transportation ministry and the Australian Transportation and Safety Bureau.

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