Plane crashes in Asia have been a trend in headlines lately, and this one is sure to take the cake, given the unusual nature of the crash.
TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 plane crashed into a bridge over the Taipei River this morning, killing at least 16 people and leaving about a dozen missing. There were 58 passengers total on the flight.
Although small planes are considered more dangerous than bigger ones, this crash has made waves given the dramatic footage that was captured as the plane made contact with the bridge.
One taxi was clipped, leading The Mirror to say that the driver is "the luckiest man alive." He reportedly fainted after the plane touched his car.
This is the second fatal crash by TransAsia Airways in the past seven months. Many speculate that the airline is likely to come under scrutiny by regulators.
As for the actual crash, Reuters reports that :
The last communication from one of the aircraft's pilots was "Mayday Mayday engine flameout", according to an air traffic control recording on liveatc.net.
The plane was powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW127M engines. Pratt & Whitney is part of United Technologies.
A flameout occurs when the fuel supply to the engine is interrupted or when there is faulty combustion, resulting in an engine failure. Twin-engined aircraft, however, are usually able to keep flying even when one engine has failed.
The head of Taiwan's civil aviation authority, Lin Tyh-ming, said the aircraft last underwent maintenance on Jan. 26. The pilot had 4,916 hours of flying hours under his belt and the co-pilot had 6,922 hours, he said.