According to Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration, 15 people have been rescued from the crash site and at least 24 remain missing.
Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council said the black-box data recorders for the flight, which was heading to the outlying island of Kinmen from Taipei, have been located and sent to a lab for analysis.
The ATR-72 turboprop, which was less than one year old, was carrying 53 passengers—31 of whom were Chinese nationals--and five crew members when it crashed into the Keelung River after taking off from Taipei's Songshan Airport. TransAsia said the control tower lost communication with the pilot four minutes after takeoff.
Taiwan's aviation authority and TransAsia haven't suggested any possible causes for the crash. This is the airline's second deadly accident in less than a year.
"We are also very eager to find out why this happened to such a new aircraft," TransAsia Chief Executive Peter Chen said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Chen also pledged monetary compensation to the victims, but didn't provide further details.
Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office said it is asking authorities in Taiwan to do all they can "to rescue the compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, including the mainland tourists."
In late July, TransAsia Flight 222 heading from Taipei to Penghu, another outlying island, crashed a few minutes before landing, killing 48 people. After that crash, the company set out rules that no
TransAsia flights can take off unless visibility is at least 50% above government standards.
TransAsia, a regional airliner that specializes in short-haul flights, is Taiwan's third biggest air carrier by fleet size after China Airlines Ltd. and Eva Airways Corp. TransAir's wholly owned low-cost carrier, V Air, received government approval to commence operation last year.
Witnesses told the Taipei Fire Department they saw two bodies falling from the sky around the time of the crash. They also said pieces of plane debris hit a taxi on the ground. The driver was taken to the hospital.
A security guard at a nearby apartment complex told The Wall Street Journal that he saw the plane was flying very low and then hit a lightning rod on the overpass. Then the plane lost balance and there was a very loud noise, he said.
Another security guard at another building said he heard a loud banging noise and smelled petroleum around the time of the crash.
from China Travel & Tourism News http://ift.tt/1iB6EFm
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