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The TransAsia ATR 72-600 crashed into a river shortly after take-off. At least 40 of the 58 people on board died, leaving 15 injured and three—all Chinese nationals—unaccounted for.
Taiwan’s
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) has ordered Taiwanese airlines TransAsia
Airways and Uni Air to ground their ATR 72s and conduct engine inspections on
the turboprops following the February 4 crash of a TransAsia
ATR 72-600 in Taipei.
The airline grounded most of its
turboprops on Saturday as all 71 pilots of those
planes began retraining and qualification tests required by local authorities.
The
TransAsia ATR 72-600 crashed into a river shortly after take-off. At least 40 of
the 58 people on board died, leaving 15 injured and three—all Chinese
nationals—unaccounted for.
CAA stated
that an audio recording of the last communication between the flight deck crew
of TransAsia flight GE235 and air traffic controllers reveals one of the pilots
issuing a mayday call in which he says, “engine flameout."
The crashed
aircraft was produced by ATR in April 2014 and had been in operation with
TransAsia for nine months.