Taiwan pilot before deadly February crash: 'Wow, pulled back the wrong side throttle'
On Thursday, Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council (ASC) released a more detailed preliminary report on the Feb. 4 crash of TransAsia Airways Flight 235 into Taipei's Keelung River, and though the report doesn't assign blame, the plane's pilot, Capt. Liao Jian-zong, doesn't come out looking very good. Forty-three people died in the crash, including Liao and the copilot, and 15 survived.
Liao, 41, switched off the ATR 72-600's only working engine right before it crashed, the ASC reports, and didn't recognize his mistake in time. "Wow, pulled back the wrong side throttle," Liao was heard saying on the voice recorder seconds before the plane clipped a highway and crashed into the shallow river. The final words on the recording are from a junior officer: "Impact, impact, brace for impact."
In May 2014, Liao had failed flight simulator training after instructors found that he often failed to complete preflight procedures and checks and had poor "cockpit management and flight planning" skills, Reuters reports. He passed the test a month later, earning his promotion to captain, but instructors noted during training a week later that he was "prone to be nervous and may make oral errors during the engine start procedure." Last November, an instructor advised that Liao "may need extra training" regarding engine failures after takeoff, the ASC found. The ASC's final report will be released next April, with a draft coming out this November. You can learn more in the Reuters video below. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
'King's horses take free rein through London'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Is pop music now too reliant on gossip?
Talking Point Taylor Swift's new album has prompted a flurry of speculation over who she is referring to in her songs
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Nuclear near-misses
The Explainer From technical glitches to fateful split-second decisions, the world has come to the brink of nuclear war more times than you might think
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published