Cebu_4_2
4th February 2015, 04:00 PM
'Mayday. Engine flameout': Call shortly before plane hits bridge in Taiwan
By Euan McKirdy (http://www.cnn.com/profiles/euan-mckirdy), Steve Almasy and Vivian Kam, CNN
Updated 5:46 PM ET, Wed February 4, 2015
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150204162731-lead-dnt-johns-plane-crash-taiwan-00001007-story-top.jpg
Just Watched
Plane clips bridge, plunges in river
replay
Plane clips bridge, plunges in river 01:59
Story highlights
Mayday call came from TransAsia Airways Flight GE235, a recording appears to reveal
"Black boxes" have been recovered by search and rescue crews
TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 was en route from Taipei to the island of Kinmen
(CNN)Someone in the cockpit of a TransAsia Airways flight apparently made a mayday call because of an engine problem shortly before the plane crashed Wednesday into a river in Taiwan, killing at least 31 people.
A male voice on a recording of radio conversations between air traffic control and TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 says, "GE235. Mayday, mayday. Engine flameout." The recording was verified by LiveATC.net, which records air traffic control feeds around the world.
It is unclear whether the man was a pilot.
The passenger plane clipped a bridge and plunged into a river in Taipei, according to the island's official news agency, CNA.
Rescuers scrambled to pull survivors from the submerged wreck of the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop aircraft, which went down shortly after takeoff from the Taiwanese capital.
Fifty-eight people were aboard the flight when it veered out of control as it flew to Kinmen, off the coast of the Chinese province of Xiamen.
The toll: 31 confirmed dead, 15 injured and 12 missing, officials said. The search and rescue effort continues. Two other people, who were in a car on the bridge that was clipped by the wing of the plane as it went down, also were injured.
The plane's cockpit crew were among those confirmed dead, authorities said.
Crews have recovered the aircraft's "black boxes," CNA reported.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150204064755-01-transasia-0204-large-169.jpg
TransAsia plane crashes into river in Taiwan 15 photos
EXPAND GALLERY
The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, which is designed to retain all sounds on a plane's flight deck, were found in the tail of the plane, Ang Xingzhong, the executive director of Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council, told the news agency.
The flight data recorder stores a vast amount of information about the aircraft's performance, including air speed and cabin pressure.
Plane clips highway
A dash-cam video captured the moment the plane hurtled out of control above the city's Nanhu Bridge before crashing into the Keelung River, just after 11 a.m. local time (10 p.m. ET).
CNA reported that the pilot appeared to try to control the plane as it descended, but the aircraft's wing grazed the overpass, clipping a passing taxi.
The two people in the taxi were injured but are in stable condition after being taken to hospital, CNA said.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150204005632-taiwan-plane-crash-transasia-more-story-top.png
58 on board plane that crashed in river 02:33
PLAY VIDEO
The news agency reported on the efforts of one father who was injured in the crash. The man, who was not identified, was aboard with his wife and 1-year-old baby. The father, upon learning that his wife and child had been sent to separate hospitals, rode a bike to find his wife and baby, CNA said.
The wife and baby are injured but did not suffer life-threatening wounds, doctors said, according to the news agency. The father was barely injured.
Rescuers in lifeboats pulled survivors from the water and the wreckage. Some passengers appeared to be wearing life jackets as they waited their turn to board rescue boats.
The military said it had 165 personnel and numerous vehicles nearby to assist rescue efforts if required.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150204144105-taiwan-kinmen-map-large-169.jpg
Kinmen is a small island under Taiwan's jurisdiction near mainland China.
EXPAND IMAGE
TransAsia CEO apologizes
Hours after the crash, TransAsia Airways CEO Chen Xinde extended a "deep apology to the victims and our crew."
He said 31 of the passengers aboard the flight were Chinese tourists, including three children. Twenty-two were from Taiwan, including one child.
The airline had sent the passenger manifest to authorities, and families were confirming the identities of the deceased, he said.
Airline staff have been dispatched to hospitals to help families and the injured, as well as the taxi driver and passenger who were also receiving treatment.
Some were also going to Xiamen to assist two Chinese travel agencies, Chen said.
Chinese tourists
The 31 Chinese tourists were traveling in two tour groups: the Xiamen Airlines International Travel Service Co. and the Xiamen Tourism Group International Travel Service Co.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150204075016-newday-transasia-plane-engine-fail-00003716-story-top.jpg
Did TransAsia plane's engine fail? 01:43
PLAY VIDEO
Chou Jih-shine, the vice chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation -- a quasi-governmental agency that covers cross-Taiwan Strait negotiations -- said the agency had informed its Beijing counterpart. Chou added that the agency had sent personnel to the crash site.
Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration said the plane was less than a year old and had last completed a safety check on January 26.
The agency did not offer any information on what may have caused the crash.
Last year, an older TransAsia ATR 72, which was attempting to land in the Taiwanese Penghu Islands, crashed, resulting in 48 deaths (http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/24/world/asia/taiwan-plane-crash/).
Latest tragedy
The TransAsia crash is the latest in a number of plane tragedies involving Asian carriers.
AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crashed on December 28 as it flew from the Indonesian city of Surabaya toward Singapore. There were 162 people on board.
In July, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 aboard.
TransAsia was involved in another deadly crash in July of last year, too. In Taiwan, 48 died on TransAsia Airways Flight 222, another ATR 72 aircraft. The cause of that crash is unclear.
The biggest recent mystery has been the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. It disappeared on March 8, 2014, and has not been found.
CNN's Ed Payne contributed to this report.
By Euan McKirdy (http://www.cnn.com/profiles/euan-mckirdy), Steve Almasy and Vivian Kam, CNN
Updated 5:46 PM ET, Wed February 4, 2015
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150204162731-lead-dnt-johns-plane-crash-taiwan-00001007-story-top.jpg
Just Watched
Plane clips bridge, plunges in river
replay
Plane clips bridge, plunges in river 01:59
Story highlights
Mayday call came from TransAsia Airways Flight GE235, a recording appears to reveal
"Black boxes" have been recovered by search and rescue crews
TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 was en route from Taipei to the island of Kinmen
(CNN)Someone in the cockpit of a TransAsia Airways flight apparently made a mayday call because of an engine problem shortly before the plane crashed Wednesday into a river in Taiwan, killing at least 31 people.
A male voice on a recording of radio conversations between air traffic control and TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 says, "GE235. Mayday, mayday. Engine flameout." The recording was verified by LiveATC.net, which records air traffic control feeds around the world.
It is unclear whether the man was a pilot.
The passenger plane clipped a bridge and plunged into a river in Taipei, according to the island's official news agency, CNA.
Rescuers scrambled to pull survivors from the submerged wreck of the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop aircraft, which went down shortly after takeoff from the Taiwanese capital.
Fifty-eight people were aboard the flight when it veered out of control as it flew to Kinmen, off the coast of the Chinese province of Xiamen.
The toll: 31 confirmed dead, 15 injured and 12 missing, officials said. The search and rescue effort continues. Two other people, who were in a car on the bridge that was clipped by the wing of the plane as it went down, also were injured.
The plane's cockpit crew were among those confirmed dead, authorities said.
Crews have recovered the aircraft's "black boxes," CNA reported.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150204064755-01-transasia-0204-large-169.jpg
TransAsia plane crashes into river in Taiwan 15 photos
EXPAND GALLERY
The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, which is designed to retain all sounds on a plane's flight deck, were found in the tail of the plane, Ang Xingzhong, the executive director of Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council, told the news agency.
The flight data recorder stores a vast amount of information about the aircraft's performance, including air speed and cabin pressure.
Plane clips highway
A dash-cam video captured the moment the plane hurtled out of control above the city's Nanhu Bridge before crashing into the Keelung River, just after 11 a.m. local time (10 p.m. ET).
CNA reported that the pilot appeared to try to control the plane as it descended, but the aircraft's wing grazed the overpass, clipping a passing taxi.
The two people in the taxi were injured but are in stable condition after being taken to hospital, CNA said.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150204005632-taiwan-plane-crash-transasia-more-story-top.png
58 on board plane that crashed in river 02:33
PLAY VIDEO
The news agency reported on the efforts of one father who was injured in the crash. The man, who was not identified, was aboard with his wife and 1-year-old baby. The father, upon learning that his wife and child had been sent to separate hospitals, rode a bike to find his wife and baby, CNA said.
The wife and baby are injured but did not suffer life-threatening wounds, doctors said, according to the news agency. The father was barely injured.
Rescuers in lifeboats pulled survivors from the water and the wreckage. Some passengers appeared to be wearing life jackets as they waited their turn to board rescue boats.
The military said it had 165 personnel and numerous vehicles nearby to assist rescue efforts if required.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150204144105-taiwan-kinmen-map-large-169.jpg
Kinmen is a small island under Taiwan's jurisdiction near mainland China.
EXPAND IMAGE
TransAsia CEO apologizes
Hours after the crash, TransAsia Airways CEO Chen Xinde extended a "deep apology to the victims and our crew."
He said 31 of the passengers aboard the flight were Chinese tourists, including three children. Twenty-two were from Taiwan, including one child.
The airline had sent the passenger manifest to authorities, and families were confirming the identities of the deceased, he said.
Airline staff have been dispatched to hospitals to help families and the injured, as well as the taxi driver and passenger who were also receiving treatment.
Some were also going to Xiamen to assist two Chinese travel agencies, Chen said.
Chinese tourists
The 31 Chinese tourists were traveling in two tour groups: the Xiamen Airlines International Travel Service Co. and the Xiamen Tourism Group International Travel Service Co.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150204075016-newday-transasia-plane-engine-fail-00003716-story-top.jpg
Did TransAsia plane's engine fail? 01:43
PLAY VIDEO
Chou Jih-shine, the vice chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation -- a quasi-governmental agency that covers cross-Taiwan Strait negotiations -- said the agency had informed its Beijing counterpart. Chou added that the agency had sent personnel to the crash site.
Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration said the plane was less than a year old and had last completed a safety check on January 26.
The agency did not offer any information on what may have caused the crash.
Last year, an older TransAsia ATR 72, which was attempting to land in the Taiwanese Penghu Islands, crashed, resulting in 48 deaths (http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/24/world/asia/taiwan-plane-crash/).
Latest tragedy
The TransAsia crash is the latest in a number of plane tragedies involving Asian carriers.
AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crashed on December 28 as it flew from the Indonesian city of Surabaya toward Singapore. There were 162 people on board.
In July, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 aboard.
TransAsia was involved in another deadly crash in July of last year, too. In Taiwan, 48 died on TransAsia Airways Flight 222, another ATR 72 aircraft. The cause of that crash is unclear.
The biggest recent mystery has been the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. It disappeared on March 8, 2014, and has not been found.
CNN's Ed Payne contributed to this report.