Taiwan crash pilot: 'wow, pulled back wrong throttle'

TransAsia crash: both engines 'lost power' after take-off

2 June

The black boxes recovered from the wreckage of the TransAsia plane which crashed in Taiwan have revealed that both engines lost power shortly after take-off.

The plane ran into difficulty just 37 seconds after take-off when the engines failed to produce enough thrust, investigators said.

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The data shows that flight crew attempted to switch off and restart one of the engines, but with no success, according to the BBC.

"The plane flashed a flame-out signal for one of the two engines at 10:53:28 when the plane climbed to an altitude of 1,200ft, triggering a warning," said Thomas Wang, director of the Aviation Safety Council

A minute later, the pilot issued a mayday call to air traffic controllers. Just 72 seconds later, the plane crashed into the Keelung River.

At least 35 out of the 58 people on board the domestic flight from Taipei to the island of Kinmen were killed in the crash. Rescuers saved 15 people, with the remaining eight missing passengers presumed dead.

TransAsia, which has now experienced two deadly crashes in less than a year, has been punished with a one-year ban on applying for new flight routes. However, politicians are calling for the carrier to suspend its operations entirely until a thorough investigation has been conducted, ABC reports.

The pilot of the plane, 41-year-old Liao Chien-tsung, who died in the crash, has been hailed as hero for attempting to steer the aircraft clear of buildings, saving countless lives. He was found with his hands still clutching the plane's joystick.

"The pilot's immediate action saved many people," the brother of one of the survivors said. "We all feel very lucky."

Stories of several lucky escapes from the crash have also begun to emerge. Flight attendant Huangjing Ya, the only member of crew to survive, cheated death for a second time in the crash. Last year she swapped shifts and managed to avoid being on another TransAsia flight which crashed, this time in Penghu Island.

A taxi driver also had an extremely narrow escape when the wing of the plane clipped his car as it skimmed a bridge before plunging into the before the river. The force crushed his car, but he escaped with his life.

TransAsia plane crash: pilots hailed as heroes as search continues

05 February

Rescue teams are continuing the search for 12 missing people following a TransAsia Airways plane crash that left at least 31 people dead.

The domestic flight from Taipei to the island of Kinmen crashed into a river shortly after takeoff with 58 passengers and crew onboard. Fifteen people were rescued from the wreckage including a mother, a father and their two-year old son.

"This morning we have some 60 divers going underwater to search" as well as 20 boats scouring the surface of the river, said Liu Yung-chou, who is leading the rescue operation. However, there is very little hope that any of the 12 missing people will be found alive, the BBC's Cindy Sui reports from Taipei.

Dramatic footage showed the plane swerving between buildings, hitting a vehicle on a bridge and plunging into the Keelung River.

Aviation experts have praised experienced pilot Liao Chien-tsung and his co-pilot, who were both killed in the crash, for saving countless lives.

"This pilot decided to land in a narrow river without buildings because there is a residential area nearby," Liao Linghui, a Taiwanese aviation expert told local media. "He did all he could do,"

Taipei residents also took to social media to express their gratitude to the pilots. "The footage shows the plane at the end making a sudden turn, as he was trying avoiding the city's buildings and high apartments," wrote one person, according to Quartz."Many thanks to the pilots for saving Nankang district."

Aviation officials have refused to speculate on the cause of the crash until a full investigation has been carried out, but said that the pilots on board had tens of thousands of hours of experience, the plane had been recently serviced, and the weather at the time of the flight was "okay", the Daily Telegraph reports.

A flight recording revealed that the pilot made a mayday call shortly before the crash reporting an "engine burnout". The company's director Peter Chen said the cause of the crash was still unknown. "This aircraft in the accident was the newest model. It hadn't been used for even a year,'' he said.

TransAsia Airways was involved in another crash in Penghu last year which killed 48 people, as well as deadly incidents in 1995 and 2002.

The plane's black boxes, which have now been recovered, will provide further answers for the troubled airline.

TransAsia plane crash: 19 dead as rescue continues in Taiwan

04 February

At least 19 people are dead and dozens more injured or missing after a TransAsia Airways flight crashed into a river shortly after takeoff in Taiwan.

There were 58 people onboard the domestic flight from Taipei to the island of Kinmen, near mainland China. Taiwanese officials told the BBC that 16 people were injured, while 30 people remained missing.

A rescue operation is ongoing to free the passengers and crew trapped inside. Emergency workers on rubber boats were forced to cut open the fuselage in an attempt to rescue those onboard.

Dramatic footage filmed by a driver's dashboard camera and posted on social media shows the plane clipping a bridge with its wing, before plunging upside-down into the Keelung River. The plane reportedly missed an apartment building by just metres.

Shortly after takeoff, the pilot reported engine trouble to air traffic controllers, according to the New York Times reports. "Mayday, mayday. Engine flameout," the pilot said. Flight controllers then lost contact with the plane.

This is the airline's second deadly crash in the space of a year, following another TransAsia accident in July which killed 48 people. In a televised news conference, the airline's chief executive Chen Xinde, apologised to the victims and their families for the crash.

"Taiwan once had a notoriously poor air safety record, but it has improved in recent years, with last year's Penghu crash the first deadly accident in 12 years," the New York Times reports. The latest crash will likely renew safety concerns for air travel in the country.