TRANSASIA Airways flight GE222 crash landed in a residential area near Magong airport on the Penghu island chain in Taiwan yesterday, claiming the lives of at least 40 travellers.
According to news agency AFP, the ATR 72-500 was carrying 58 people including four crew members and four children from Kaohsiung to the islands on Taiwan’s west coast.
Bad weather as Typhoon Matmo streaked through Taiwan prompted a delayed landing by the aircraft, and it was on the second attempt to land at Matmo airport that it crashed into houses in the village of Sisi.
AFP quoted Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration director general, Shen Chi, as saying 51 people were thought to have perished in the accident, but later revised the figure to 47.
Lee Yi-liang and co-pilot Chiang Kuan-hsin, who between them had chalked up over 20,000 flight hours, piloted the flight, said the AFP report.
Aircraft manufacturer ATR said in a statement that the circumstances of the accident are still under investigation, and that the Aviation Safety Council of Taiwan is taking the lead in this case.
TransAsia Airways also flies to Thailand, Cambodia, South Korea, Japan, Macau and Palau, and will launch Taiwan’s first LCC later this year.
