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.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

Sign up