Investigators are to look into the possibility that a hi-tech glitch similar to the millennium bug may have played a part in last week's China Airlines crash.
The accident occurred on August 22, a 'critical day' for the international satellite navigation network, the Global Positioning System (GPS).
It was the day when the timers on the satellites, widely used in navigation, rolled back to zero.
More than 3,000 ocean-going vessels in Hong Kong vanished off screens for 12 seconds that morning as the change occurred.
A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Department, which is heading the international investigation into the crash at Chek Lap Kok, said all possibilities would be explored.
'If this happened on that particular day, we of course will be looking at it,' he said.
GPS provides navigation data from 24 satellites orbiting in space for use in shipping, aviation and weather mapping.