Death toll from TransAsia plane crash in Taiwan rises to 31

Dhaka, Feb 5 (Reuters) – The death toll from a TransAsia Airways plane that crashed into a Taipei river shortly after taking off has risen to 31, Taiwanese officials said on Thursday, and could rise further with 12 people still missing.

TransAsia Flight GE235, carrying 58 passengers and crew, lurched between buildings, clipped an overpass with one of its wings and crashed upside down into shallow water shortly after taking off from a downtown Taipei airport on Wednesday.

Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said 15 people survived. Sixteen of those killed were from among a group of 31 Chinese tourists, most from the southeastern city of Xiamen, it said. Three Chinese passengers were rescued.

The pilot and co-pilot of the almost-new turboprop ATR 72-600 were among those killed, the CAA said. TransAsia identified the pilot as 42-year-old Liao Chien-tsung.

Both the pilots’ bodies had been recovered, TransAsia said on Thursday as sketchy details of the plane’s final moments began to emerge.

Dramatic pictures captured by a passing motorist showed the plane careening over an overpass, its nose up as its port-side wing struck the roadway just metres from passing cars.

Taiwanese media reported that it appeared Liao had fought desperately to steer his stricken aircraft between apartment blocks and commercial buildings close to Taipei’s Songshan airport before crashing into the river.

The head of Taiwan’s CAA, Lin Tyh-ming, has said Liao had 4,916 flying hours under his belt and the co-pilot 6,922 hours.

Taiwanese media reported that Liao came from a poor family.

The son of two street vendors, he studied hard before passing exams to join Taiwan’s air force. He later flew for China Airlines, Taiwan’s main carrier, before joining TransAsia.

TransAsia’s shares closed down 6.9 percent on Wednesday, its biggest percentage decline since late 2011. The crash was the latest in a string of aviation disasters in Asia in the past 12 months.