The airline will also meet the medical expenses of injured passengers and crew

Singapore Airlines statement

The pilot and crew of a Singapore airline jet which crashed in Taiwan have been ordered not to leave the island while investigations are made.

Prosecutors are examining whether anyone should face charges in relation to the crash - if convicted of manslaughter the crew face five years in jail.

Closed runway

Air accident investigators are now certain that the aircraft was using a runway that was closed for repairs and had construction equipment on it.

"Singapore Airlines (SIA) is offering the families of passengers and crew who died in the accident in Taipei US$400,000 each in compensation," an airline statement said.

"The airline will also meet the medical expenses of injured passengers and crew, and will discuss compensation with each of them," it added.

SIA said last week it was making an immediate payment of $25,000 to each victim's family and was providing $5,000 to each of the 98 people who survived the crash.

Charges

"If it is proved that pilot error had caused the air disaster, the three pilots would face manslaughter charges," said Song Kuo-yeh, a prosecutor leading the investigation.

The Los Angeles-bound Boeing 747 was carrying 159 passengers and 20 crew when it crashed late on Tuesday as Typhoon Xangsane hit the island.

Some of the machinery hit by the 747

The closed runway, number 05R, runs parallel to the one the plane should have used, 05L.

The chief executive officer of Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council, Yong Kay, said the captain was told to use runway 05L and correctly read back his instructions.

But unknown to both crew and control tower, the pilot had turned right 100 metres too soon. Many questions

It is not yet clear why the mistake was made, and the BBC's correspondent in Taiwan Damian Grammaticas says many questions remain.

• Were the crew briefed properly about the closure of the runway?
• Did the rain make it impossible for them to see illuminated signs and large white letters painted on the tarmac to tell them which runway they were turning onto?
• Were the wrong set of runway lights switched on?