Both engines failed on TransAsia plane before crash

Updated
TransAsia Plane Crash Blamed on Engine Failure
TransAsia Plane Crash Blamed on Engine Failure


Both engines of the TransAsia flight that crashed in Taiwan on Wednesday failed before the plane hit the Keelung River, authorities said.

One of the engines lost thrust and the other was shut down and restarted, according to Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council.

A study of the 'black box' revealed that Flight GE235 stalled soon after take-off, Reuters reports.

Thomas Wang, managing director of the Aviation Safety Council, said: "The first engine experienced a problem 37 seconds after take-off at 1,200 feet."

According to The Guardian, Wang said the pilot announced a "flameout", which can occur when fuel supply to an engine is interrupted or when there is a faulty combustion, but there had not been one.

"The flight crew stepped on the accelerator of engine 2 (righthand side)... The engine was still operating, but neither engine produced power."

On Friday, the pilots were hailed heroes for doing everything they could to prevent the crash after their bodies were found still holding the joystick in the plane's cockpit.

The pilot, identified by TransAsia as 42-year-old Liao Chien-tsung, was praised by Taipei's mayor for steering the plane between apartment blocks and commercial buildings before it crashed into a river.

Chien-tsung and his unidentified co-pilot died in the cockpit on impact but were found clutching the controls with their legs badly broken.

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