Entry #5 - February 8th, 2015

'Mayday. Engine flameout': Call shortly before plane hits bridge in Taiwan

Feb 8th, 2015

By: Johnny Yu

CNN News

Someone in the cockpit of a TransAsia Airways flight made a mayday call because of an engine malfunction shortly before the plane crashed Wednesday into a river in Taiwan. At least 32 people were killed.

A male voice on a recording of radio conversations between air traffic control and TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 says, "GE235. Mayday, mayday. Engine flameout." It is still unclear whether the man was a pilot or not.

The passenger plane clipped a bridge and crashed into a river in Taipei. Rescuers hurried to pull survivors from the submerged wreck of the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop aircraft, which went down shortly after takeoff from the capital of Taiwan.

58 people were on this flight to Kinmen, off the coast of the Chinese province of Fujian. After the accident, 32 people confirmed dead and 11 missing. The search and rescue are still continuing.

Out of the 15 people who survived, many of them were injured. Two other people, who were in a taxi on the bridge that was clipped by the wing of the plane, also got hurt, but their condition was stable.

Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration said they already had local airlines to carry out inspections on all their ATR 72s before using them again. The checks will include various aspects of the engine system, including fuel and propeller control.

My Thoughts & Opinions

It is very sad to hear that another terrible tragedy has happened. But it is very glad to hear that after this tragedy, all airlines which use this kind of air planes are checking for problems. We are trying to prevent such terrible thing to happen, which is a nice thing to do. Still, it is very harsh to hear that out of the 58 people who boarded the plane, only 15 survived the accident. I hope the government could care about the families who lost their dearest member a lot, and compensate their loss. Meanwhile, I want to say good job to all the rescuers. According to the news article, the rescuers swarmed the place where the accident happened as soon as possible and started rescuing survivors. Their spirits made me feel very touched, and I think the families who got their family members back will also be very thankful for their brave act.