TransAsia plane lifted from river; 31 confirmed dead

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TransAsia pilots undergo proficiency tests following crash

By RALPH JENNINGS
Feb. 7, 2015 6:58 AM EST

A ground mechanic works on the engine area of a TransAsia Airways ATR airplane at the Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015. All 71 pilots who operate the airline's ATR propeller-jets began proficiency tests on Saturday, three days after one of the carrier's ATRs crashed into a river. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The dozens of pilots who operate TransAsia Airways' ATR propeller-jets began proficiency tests on Saturday, three days after one of the carrier's ATRs crashed into a river, killing at least 40 people.

The airline said it had canceled 90 flights over the next three days to accommodate the requirement by Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration that all 71 of its ATR pilots be retested.

Preliminary investigations indicate the pilots of Wednesday's doomed flight shut off a running engine of the ATR 72 after its other engine went idle, a move that aviation experts said was an error.

"It's a mistake," said John M. Cox, a former US Airways pilot and now head of a safety-consulting company. "There are procedures that pilots go through — safeguards — when you're going to shut down an engine, particularly close to the ground. Why that didn't occur here, I don't know."

Local prosecutors have said they will look into the possibility of "professional error."

Thomas Wang, head of Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council, said Saturday that it was too early to reach conclusions about any pilot error.

Pratt & Whitney Canada, the plane's engine maker, and the safety council have begun to examine both of the aircraft's engines, a process that can take four months, Wang said.

The crash into the muddy Keelung River in Taipei minutes after takeoff killed at least 40 of the 58 people who were aboard the plane, with rescuers recovering five more bodies on Saturday, according to the Taipei City Fire Department. Three people remain missing.

Fifteen people were rescued with injuries after the accident, which was captured in a dramatic dashboard camera video that showed the aircraft banking steeply and scraping a highway overpass before it hurtled into the water.

With warmer temperatures, divers on Saturday were able to retrieve more bodies, which were found hundreds of meters downriver from the crash site.

One body turned up near the shore, and others were submerged in m&d, said You Chia-yi, a command post chief with the fire department.

Family members of those still missing have given up hope, said Lee Hung Shu-ying, a Tzu Chi Foundation volunteer who talked to numerous relatives Saturday.

"They know it's not possible (to survive) with the weather being so cold," she said. "They just hope the bodies can be found."

 

[Mirage]

TransAsia discusses compensation with families after Taipei crash

TransAsia flights cancelled as pilots called in for retraining, while search for missing continues

PUBLISHED : Monday, 09 February, 2015, 5:02am
UPDATED : Monday, 09 February, 2015, 5:12am

Agencies in Taipei

Relatives of the victims of crashed TransAsia Airways Flight 235 offered prayers along the Keelung River in Taipei yesterday. Photo: AP

TransAsia Airways representatives met yesterday with relatives of the victims of last week's plane crash in Taiwan to discuss compensation after it began distributing money to families of the deceased for funeral costs.

At least 40 people died after the turboprop plane crashed into the muddy Keelung River minutes after take-off on Wednesday from Taipei Songshan Airport.

Fifteen of the 58 people aboard the plane were rescued.

A memorial service will be held today and tomorrow, Central News Agency (CNA) said.

Shoes and belonings recovered from the crashed TransAsia Aiways plane and crash site, are displayed for identification by victims' family members. Photo: EPA

The airline said yesterday that 90 flights - all domestic - would be cancelled by today. It said there would be more cancellations this week, including 32 tomorrow, as pilots were recalled for retraining.

A spokeswoman said more of the airline's domestic flights could be hit if the tests for all 71 of its ATR pilots, which began yesterday, could not be completed in four days as scheduled.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration on Friday ordered the retraining after it emerged that pilots may have inexplicably shut off one of the two engines before Flight 235 went down.

A spokesman for France-based manufacturer ATR said yesterday that its aircraft were designed to fly on a single engine.

Divers continue to look for missing passengers of TransAsia Airways Flight 235 in the Keelung River in Taipei. Photo: AP

At the crash site, divers tried to find the bodies of the three people still missing, including a Taiwanese and two mainlanders, by using metal detectors to locate their watches or seat belts.

CNA reported that an underwater archaeological team belonging to the Academia Sinica also joined the search yesterday.

Most of the passengers were from the mainland.

A TransAsia spokeswoman, Fang Chia-wen, said a second meeting would be held on Wednesday to discuss compensation matters further.

She said the airline had already begun distributing NT$1.2 million (HK$293,000) per victim to the families of the deceased for funeral expenses.

Premier Mao Chi-kuo told Formosa TV yesterday that the priority was to find the three missing people.

Longer-term, Taiwan needed to improve "our civil aviation in terms of its management and training", he said.

Huang Han-chung, a member of the underwater search team, also told the private television station that rescuers at the crash site were using metal detectors, which had already been used to locate pieces of wreckage.

Wu Jun-hung, a Taipei fire department official, added: "Some bodies might have some metal on them, like necklaces, watches and coins, which will be detected.

"There are still four seats missing, so it's possible that the victims are still fastened in their seats by their seat belt, that they sank together with the seats to the bottom of the [river]."

Agence France-Presse, Associated Press

 

[Mirage]

Religious rites to honour dead in Taiwan plane crash as bodies flown home

PUBLISHED : Monday, 09 February, 2015, 2:51pm
UPDATED : Monday, 09 February, 2015, 11:46pm

Lawrence Chung in Taipei [email protected]

Bereaved families of victims of last week's TransAsia Airways plane crash. A Buddhist ceremony was held in Taipei on Monday night. Photo: Reuters

Bereaved families of 40 people killed in last week’s TransAsia Airways plane crash in Taiwan held a religious ceremony tonight to honour the dead as the bodies of three victims were repatriated to mainland China.

Clad in black, many relatives sobbed uncontrollably as Buddhist masters led them to a ceremonial hall in Taipei where sutras were recited to comfort the living and send the deceased to peace. The ceremony, held by abbots of Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Monastery based in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, lasted for three hours.

The media was kept away from the relatives by guards hired by TransAsia to ensure they were not disturbed.

Earlier in the morning, the families of three of the mainlanders who died, Hu Shaoling, Huang Yucheng and Yang Xiaoli, escorted their remains back to Xiamen, in southeastern Fujian province - just opposite Taiwan's former defence outpost of Quemoy - on board Mandarin Airlines Flight AE991, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau said. "They were keen to take the remains [of their loved ones] back home for their own memorial and funeral services, so we helped to arrange for them to board a plane bound for Xiamen at about 8.40am," a bureau official said.

Government agencies across Taiwan would fly their flags at half-mast on Tuesday, the cabinet said. An official funeral ceremony will also be held for the relatives, friends and members of the public at Taipei's Second Funeral Parlor.

The families of the other mainland victims that have been found have yet to decide whether their relatives would be cremated in Taiwan, said TransAsia Airways, which would offer transportation assistance if needed. The airline's officials said it would negotiate with the families of the dead and injured about compensation amounts tomorrow.

Flight GE235 was carrying 58 people on board when it experienced engine problems shortly after taking off from Taipei Songshan Airport on Wednesday. The plane clipped a highway overpass as it banked sharply and crashed into the river.

Of the 53 passengers, 31 were from the mainland - 26 of whom were killed. Fifteen people survived, and three remain missing. "Compensation payments for both the local and the mainland passengers will be the same," said Liu Chung-chi, a TransAsia spokesman, adding the issue would be discussed after funeral services were completed.

The level of compensation is expected to be no less than the NT$14.9 million (HK$3.65 million) paid to each of the families of 48 people killed in July when another TransAsia plane crashed in Penghu.

Meanwhile, the family of pilot Liao Chien-tsung – hailed a hero for managing to avoid highly populated areas before the crash when the aircraft developed engine problems – have held his funeral.

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, who paid tribute to Liao for helping to save the lives of at least 200,000 Taipei residents, also attended the ceremony.

However, initial findings of Taiwan’s Aviation Safety Council show that after one of the two engines of Fight GE235 developed a problem, instead of fixing the problem, the second engine of the turboprop aircraft was shut down.

The aircraft had no engine power for 72 seconds.

Additional reporting Xinhua

 

[Mirage]

Taiwan’s TransAsia Airways holds memorial service for 40 victims of Flight GE235 air crash

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 10 February, 2015, 12:29pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 10 February, 2015, 12:39pm

Lawrence Chung in Taipei [email protected]

Relatives of victims of last week's TransAsia air crash attend today's memorial service in Taipei's Second Funeral Parlour. Photo: CNA

Taiwan’s TransAsia Airways held a memorial service this morning for the 40 people killed when Flight GE235 crashed last Wednesday as search teams continued to look in a river near Taipei for three missing passengers.

Bereaved families of 37 victims, many with tears in their eyes, attended the one-hour service held at Taipei's Second Funeral Parlour.

An official funeral will also be held this afternoon for relatives, friends and members of the public to attend.

All government agencies are flying flags at half mast in tribute to the victims of the crash.

The Taiwanese flag flies at half mast at Yushan Weather Station, the island's highest observatory station, in tribute to the victims of last week's air crash. Photo: CNA

The bodies of three mainland victims were flown back to Xiamen yesterday morning because their relatives were keen to hold their own memorial services and funeral for their loved ones in their home city, Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau said.

The remains of two other mainland victims would be repatriated tonight, bureau officials said, adding that most of the relatives of the other mainland victims had agreed to have their remains cremated in Taipei.

Twenty-six mainland tourists were among 40 people killed in the crash, which happened less than four minutes after the aircraft left Taipei Songshan Airport bound for the island of Quemoy, Taiwan’s former defence outpost.

Search teams are continuing to look for three passengers still missing since last week's TransAsia plane crash, which killed at least 40 people. Photo: AP

Of the 58 passengers and crew on board, 15 people, including three mainland tourists and a flight attendant, survived when the aircraft crashed into Keelung River, outside the capital.

Three people from the plane, including two mainland tourists, are still missing.

Today search teams from southern Taiwan joined their counterparts at the river to continue looking for them.

 

[Mirage]

Remains of 3 Taiwan plane crash victims set for Xiamen

Source:Xinhua Published: 2015-2-9 14:39:59

The bodies of three people that died in the Taiwan plane crash were transported to Xiamen on Monday morning, the first of the deceased to be repatriated after a TransAsia Airlines crash, which killed at least 40 people.

The remains of the three Chinese mainland victims, accompanied by relatives, departed for Xiamen in southeastern Fujian Province from Taiwan's Taoyuan Airport, said Man Hongwei, head of the Taipei office for the Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Straits.

The families of the other 26 mainland victims have yet to decide if their relatives will be cremated in Taiwan, according to TransAsia Airways, which said it will offer transportation assistance if needed.

Among the 53 passengers of the flight from Taipei to Kinmen, was 31 tourists from the mainland and 22 residents of Taiwan. One flight attendant and 14 passengers survived.

Rescue workers continued their search along the Keelung River for the last three missing passengers on Sunday. A memorial ceremony will be held on Feb. 10 in Taipei.

 

[Mirage]

Two more bodies recovered from crash site of TransAsia Flight GE235 in Taipei

Forty-two people now known to have died in the disaster. Relatives have rejected a compensation offer from TransAsia Airways

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 11 February, 2015, 4:29pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 11 February, 2015, 6:48pm

Lawrence Chung in Taipei [email protected]

Rescue workers search the river near the crash site. Photo: AP

Two more bodies have been recovered near the scene of the air crash in Taipei last week, taking the number known to have died in the disaster to 42.

One person is still unaccounted for.

Aviation officials said the bodies of the two victims, one from Taiwan and the other from mainland China, were found in the water under the Nanhu Bridge, about 600 metres from the crash site.

Relatives of the last missing person, a mainland tourist aged 64, urged rescuers on Wednesday not to give up their efforts to find his body so his remains could be taken home for burial.

A diver, Chung Lu-chi, died of a ruptured aneurysm on Tuesday, apparently due to the long hours he spent searching in the cold waters, the Taipei Fire Department said.

Meanwhile, relatives of victims killed in last Wednesday’s crash have rejected TransAsia Airways’ offer of NT$14.9 million (HK$3.6 million) for each person killed in the disaster.

They said the airline should compensate each family on a case-by-case basis.

The two bodies were found about 600 metres from where the plane came down. Photo: AP

Liu Chung-chi, a TransAsia Airways representative, said the airline would continue to negotiate with the families to find a better solution.

Fifty-eight people were on board the TransAsia flight when it lost power, clipped a bridge and crashed into a river last Wednesday after taking off from Taipei's domestic airport.

Fifteen people were injured.

Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration has announced that 10 TransAsia pilots out of 68 who fly ATR 72-600 aircraft failed assessments of their flying skills and will not be allowed to take control of the planes for a month while they retrain.

Nineteen pilots did not take part in the assessments because they were training, on leave or away from Taiwan and they will have to sit the tests before they can fly the planes.

The government’s Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing has asked the island’s authorities to improve safety measures for mainland visitors.

About 3.2 million people from mainland China visited Taiwan last year.

 

[Mirage]

Half the pilots trained to fly TransAsia plane suspended after fatal crash

Date February 12, 2015 - 3:26AM
Faith Hung

At least 42 of the 58 on board the flight last week were killed in the crash. Photo: AFP

Taipei: The Taiwan government has ordered all airlines to review their safety protocols after nearly half of the pilots trained to fly TransAsia's ATR twin-engined aircraft were suspended following last week's fatal crash in the capital.

Taiwan's aviation regulator said 10 of TransAsia's 49 ATR pilots had failed oral proficiency tests on handling the aircraft during engine failure. A further 19 pilots did not take the test, due to sickness or because they were not in Taiwan, the Civil Aviation Authority said.

The 29 pilots who failed or did not take the test have been suspended.

"The result is not acceptable for us," TransAsia chief executive Peter Chen told a news conference. "We will definitely strengthen their training."

Authorities ordered the tests after one of the airline's ATR 72-600s crashed into a river in Taipei killing at least 42 of the 58 on board.

TransAsia Flight GE235 lurched between buildings, clipped an overpass with one of its wings and crashed upside down into shallow water shortly after taking off from a downtown Taipei airport last Wednesday.

Initial data indicates that the plane lost power in one engine after take-off from Taipei's Songshan airport. The crew then shut down the other engine, which was working, and attempted to restart it shortly before the aircraft crashed.

Officials in Taiwan and industry analysts have said evidence presented so far raises questions over whether the pilots may have accidentally cut the wrong engine.

"The lunar Chinese new year holiday is coming... We'll ask every local airline to check their flight safety," Chen Jian-Yu, the transportation and communications minister, told reporters after the TransAsia test results were made public.

This was the second TransAsia ATR crash in seven months, and the fifth crash involving the airline since 1995, raising questions about safety standards at Taiwan's third largest carrier.

TransAsia has cancelled at least 142 flights since the crash.

Reuters

 

[Mirage]

Remains of last TransAsia victim recovered

Date February 12, 2015 - 11:10PM

A diver continues to search the shallow river for missing persons in the commercial plane crash in Taipei on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Taipei: Taiwanese rescuers have recovered the remains of the last missing passenger in last week's TransAsia plane crash, bringing the death toll to 43 in the airline's second fatal accident in seven months.

The body of a Chinese national identified as Chen Rentai was located on Thursday still attached to his seat about three kilometres from the site where the plane plunged into a river in Taipei, said the national fire agency.

TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 crashed shortly last Wednesday after take-off from Songshan airport with 53 passengers and five crew on board. Fifteen people survived.

Relatives pray for victims in front of one of the recovered engines in the days following the crash. Photo: AP

Amateur dramatic dashcam images showed the ill-fated plane hitting an elevated road as it banked steeply away from buildings before crashing into the Keeling River.

The airline announced that it will cancel another 44 flights on Friday after ten of its pilots were banned from flying temporarily pending further qualification training after failing a flight skills test imposed by the authorities.

Taiwan's aviation regulator ordered the airline's pilots to take an oral test on basic operating and emergency procedures for the French-made aircraft, after initial findings pointed to pilot error as being behind last week's crash.

Of TransAsia's 68 pilots trained to fly ATR planes, 19 have not yet taken the test, because they are either on training programs abroad or sick leave, and have been ordered not to fly in the interim, the CAA said.

The airline has said it would offer $Tw14.9 million ($A609,717) in compensation for each person who died, after it made a similar payout to the families of 48 passengers killed in another crash last July.

Investigators are still trying to establish what caused last week's crash.

But initial reports from the black boxes found the plane's right engine had "flamed out" about two minutes after take-off while the left engine was then shut down manually by the crew for unknown reasons, according to Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council.

Analysts have said the pilots may have caused the crash by turning off the wrong engine.

AFP

 

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TransAsia's NT$14.9m offer rejected by families of crash victims

CNA and Staff Reporter
2015-02-12

Relatives of victims in last week's TransAsia Airways crash in Taipei, Feb. 11. (Photo/Huang Shih-chi)

Taiwan's TransAsia Airways offered Wednesday to pay NT$14.9 million (US$473,000) in compensation for each person killed in the Feb. 4 crash of one of its planes in Taipei, an offer which was immediately rejected by the victims' families.

The victims' relatives in attendance at the second mediation hearing since the crash that killed at least 42 people, expressed dissatisfaction with the sum and method of payment.

The offer extended by TransAsia CEO Chen Hsin-te consisted of NT$13.5 million (US$427,500) in compensation in addition to a NT$1.2 million (US$38,000) funeral subsidy and the NT$200,000 (US6,300) in consolation money that has already been paid to each victim's family.

Company representative Liu Chung-chi said the victims' families did not mention a figure of their own but the airline will continue communicating with them to find a solution agreeable to all parties.

The airline's offer would amount to over NT$600 million (US$19 million), a sum that Liu said would definitely affect the carrier's finances.

A total of 58 people, 53 passengers and five crew, were on board the ATR 72-600 plane that crashed into the Keelung River on the outskirts of Taipei shortly after taking off from nearby Songshan Airport.

Forty-two people have been confirmed dead and 15 others were injured. One passenger remains unaccounted for as of Wednesday, a full week after the crash. TransAsia has promised that search and rescue operations will continue.

The Taipei crash was the second fatal accident for the Taipei-based airline in seven months. One of its ATR 72-500 planes crashed when trying to land in the outlying island county of Penghu on July 23 last year amid bad weather, killing 49 of the 58 people on board.

Families of the deceased received payouts of NT$14.9 million after the Penghu accident.

 

[Mirage]

One in five TransAsia pilots tested after crash fail exam

CNA
2015-02-12

Transportation minister Chen Jian-yu, right, and CAA director general Lin Tyh-ming bow in apology at a press conference in Taipei, Feb. 11. (Photo/Wang Ying-hao)

Ten of the 49 pilots from TransAsia Airways evaluated in the wake of a crash of one of the airline's ATR72-600s on Feb. 4 failed an oral competency test, Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said Wednesday.

"The major problem of those who failed the tests was their inability to deal with emergencies," said CAA director general Lin Tyh-ming.

Transportation minister Chen Jian-yu, who hosted the briefing, said the pilots who did not pass the competency test will have to be retrained, and they will not be allowed to fly until their training is complete.

The Taoyuan Pilots' Union, which attacked the CAA for holding a test that it said could "mislead the public," was not immediately available for comment.

A total of 68 TransAsia ATR72 pilots were scheduled to take the first part of the two-part proficiency test between Feb. 7 and 10 to examine their ability to follow standard operating procedures and react to emergencies, the CAA said.

Excluding those who are currently being trained in foreign countries or are on vacation, 49 were evaluated, according to the agency.

The 19 pilots who have not yet been tested will also be suspended from flight duties until they complete the test, the CAA said.

The first part of the evaluation, which covered basic knowledge such as ways of dealing with engine failure on the twin-engine turboprop aircraft, was conducted orally, according to the CAA.

TransAsia said it will follow the CAA's instruction to retrain the 10 pilots, who average 6905.52 flight hours.

The airline said it is preparing for phase-2 of the evaluation, in which all 68 pilots will be tested in flight simulators.

Meanwhile, the carrier said it has been in contact with foreign experts on improving its flight safety. A group of experts from the United States and Europe will arrive in Taiwan on March 2 to assist in this regard, it said.

The experts are likely to suggest a flight safety overhaul that may take six to 12 months, according to TransAsia.