Mayday, mayday flameout: Last words of Taiwan crash pilot revealed

An audio recording of the last communication between air traffic control and stricken TransAsia flight GE235 has been released as a rescue operation continues in Taiwan. The audio reveals the pilot said “mayday, mayday, engine flameout” before the plane crashed in the Keelung River, killing at least 31 people. Authorities say 12 people remain missing after the crash, which occurred shortly after the plane took off from Taipei’s Songshan Airport. Recovery teams worked through the night to lift the fuselage from the water and rescue workers retrieved the bodies of those who died.

At the moment, things don’t look too optimistic. Those in the front of the plane are likely to have lost their lives.

Wu Jun-hong, a Taipei Fire Department official who was co-ordinating the rescue

There were 58 people on board the ATR 72-600 plane when it hit a road bridge and crashed into the river. Fifteen people survived. Video taken by a passing driver’s dashcam shows the aircraft’s wing clipping a taxi after managing to avoid nearby buildings. It then disappears from view, coming down on its side in the Keelung River about 25 metres from the bank. The plane was heading for the Kinmen islands. As many as 31 passengers were Chinese, three of them children.

Asia-Pacific TransAsia