The deadly crash of the TransAsia plane into a river in Taiwan has again placed the world’s focus and attention on safety concerns and challenges that the fast-growing Asian airlines may be confronted with. The turboprop passenger plane plunged down from the sky and its wing was captured by a motorist on camera, showing it hit and smash the embankment of the bridge, leaving a trail of flying debris before crashing into the river on Wednesday, 4th February, in Taiwan.
According to the latest CNN report, following the tragic crash in Taipei on Wednesday, Taiwan’s Civil Aerospace Authority (CAA) has now grounded all Taiwanese-registered ATR 72’s to check them for safety checks and assess whether the planes meet the agency’s standards. This check impacts several aircraft in the TransAsia fleet of jets, including the one at the heart of Wednesday’s fatal incident.
According to TVBS News, most of the passengers are Chinese tourist from mainland China visiting the island. 32 are currently feared dead and 15 were pulled out alive by rescuers before the plane submerged into the river. One of the survivor was a toddler. Rescue missions are still underway to retrieve the bodies and haul up the plane from the river.
This deadly crash represents the second incident involving a TransAsia Airways plane in a few months after another flight operated by the domestic airline crashed in July during a storm, killing 48 people.
