Shocking footage shows the ATR-72 turboprop plane banking sharply, hitting a cab and clipping a bridge before crashing into Keelung river, near Taipei.
TransAsia flight GE 235, an ATR-72-600 with registration B-22816 from Taipei Songshan Airport to Kinmen islands, crashed at around 10.55 local time (02.55 GMT) into the Keelung River near Taipei.
According to Taiwan’s aviation agency, the turboprop plane was carrying 58 people (5 crew members and 53 passengers), 12 of those have died in the crash according to the latest reports (07.30 GMT).
The aircraft was filmed banking sharply, hitting a cab on a bridge and then crashing into the river by dash camera aboard a car.
Maximum speed recorded through ADS-B by Flightradar24 receivers in the area was 116 Knots (a bit low for a departing aircraft).
Image credit: Flightradar24.com
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At least the guy in the cab had a lucky day.
That’s what it looks like to me. It’s hard to tell from the video but it looks like there are buildings that he cleared just before losing control. If that’s the case, it might explain him letting the airspeed decay below Vmc. It’s hard to tell if the left engine’s prop is feathered but it doesn’t look like it. If not, that just added to his problems.
I saw the photo of the taxi that was struck. It looks like it was hit just in front of the driver. The driver was reportedly injured (and probably needed a change of pants) but is very lucky to be alive. Had it struck him just milliseconds later, the wingtip would’ve hit him directly.