Both engines had trouble in Taiwan TransAsia crash, black-box data shows

The wreckage from TransAisa Flight 235
(Image credit: Ashley Pon/Getty Images)

The right engine of TransAsia Airways Flight 235 triggered an alarm and then went idle 37 seconds after the plane took off from Taipei's airport, Taiwan Aviation Safety Council head Thomas Wang said Friday, citing preliminary findings from the flight data and cockpit voice recorders. Another 46 seconds after that, the pilots apparently revved down the left engine in an attempt to restart both motors. Unfortunately, 72 seconds after that, the plane crashed into Taipei's Keelung River.

At least 35 of the 58 people on board died, including the pilot, who was reportedly found clutching the flight controls. Eight people are missing, and 15 survived the crash. The right engine did not "flame out," as the pilot said in his mayday call, meaning fuel wasn't getting to the engine or it failed to combust, Wang said, and the black boxes will be analyzed in greater detail to try to figure out what went wrong. "It's only the third day so we can't say too much," he said. "We haven't ruled anything out."

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.