Kaohsiung – Magong

On July 23, 2014 at 07:06 PM, Kaohsiung – Magong experienced a crash involving ATR72-500, operated by TransAsia Airways, with the event recorded near Magong Penghu County (<U+6F8E><U+6E56><U+7E23>).

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a city crash site.

58 people were known to be on board, 48 fatalities were recorded, 10 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 82.8%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 4, passengers on board: 54, passenger fatalities: 44, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. 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).

Aircraft reference details include registration B-22810, MSN 642, year of manufacture 2000.