Taipei - Macau

On December 21, 2002 at 01:52 AM, Taipei - Macau experienced a crash involving ATR72-200, operated by TransAsia Airways, with the event recorded near Magong Penghu County (<U+6F8E><U+6E56><U+7E23>).

The flight was categorized as cargo and the reported phase was flight at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

2 people were known to be on board, 2 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is weather. 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.

Aircraft reference details include registration B-22708, MSN 322, year of manufacture 1992.