TransAsia Airways

ATR72-600

The twin turboprop took off from runway 10 at 1052LT. While climbing to a height of 1,200 feet, the crew sent a mayday message, stating that an engine flamed out. Shortly later, the aircraft stalled and banked left up to an angle of 90° and hit the concrete barrier of a bridge crossing over the Keelung River. Out of control, the aircraft crashed into the river and was destroyed. It has been confirmed that 40 occupants were killed while 15 others were rescued. Three occupants remains missing. A taxi was hit on the bridge and its both occupants were also injured. According to the images available, it appears that the left engine was windmilling when the aircraft hit the bridge. First investigations reveals that the master warning activated during the initial climb when the left engine was throttled back. Shortly later, the right engine auto-feathered and the stall alarm sounded.

ATR72-500

The aircraft was being operated on an instrument flight rules (IFR) regular public transport service from Kaohsiung to Magong in the Penghu archipelago. At 1906 Taipei Local Time, the aircraft impacted terrain approximately 850 meters northeast of the threshold of runway 20 at Magong Airport and then collided with a residential area on the outskirts of Xixi village approximately 200 meters to the southeast of the initial impact zone. At the time of the occurrence, the crew was conducting a very high frequency omni-directional radio range (VOR) non-precision approach to runway 20. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post-impact fire. Ten passengers survived the occurrence and five residents on the ground sustained minor injuries. The occurrence was the result of controlled flight into terrain, that is, an airworthy aircraft under the control of the flight crew was flown unintentionally into terrain with limited awareness by the crew of the aircraft’s proximity to terrain. The crew continued the approach below the minimum descent altitude (MDA) when they were not visual with the runway environment contrary to standard operating procedures. The investigation report identified a range of contributing and other safety factors relating to the flight crew of the aircraft, TransAsia’s flight operations and safety management processes, the communication of weather information to the flight crew, coordination issues at civil/military joint-use airport, and the regulatory oversight of TransAsia by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA).

Airbus A321

After landing on runway 36R at Tainan Airport, while decelerating, the aircraft struck construction vehicles parked beside the runway. The crew was able to stop the aircraft on the main runway and all 175 occupants evacuated safely. Two workers on the ground were injured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

ATR72-200

The aircraft departed Taipei-Chiang Kai Shek Airport at 0105LT on a cargo flight to Macau with two pilots on board and a load consisting of leather parts and electronic materials. While cruising at an altitude of 18,000 feet off the Penghu Islands, the crew contacted ATC and was cleared to descend to 16,000 feet due to icing conditions. At 01h52, at an altitude of 17,853 feet, the stall warning sounded and the stick shaker activated. The crew disconnected the autopilot system and elected to maintain control of the airplane. Sixteen seconds later, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and reached the speed of 320 knots with a rate of descent of 603 feet per second (more than 36,000 feet per minute) before crashing in the sea 17 km southwest of the city of Magong. Few debris were found floating on water and both pilots were killed.

ATR72-200

The crew was completing a positioning flight from Magong to Taipei. While descending to Taipei-Songshan Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with a limited visibility due to heavy rain falls. The minimum descent altitude was fixed at 2,500 feet but for unknown reasons, the crew descended to 1,000 feet when the aircraft struck the slope of a wooded hill located 20 km from the airport. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact and all four crew members were killed.