International experts inspect Taiwan plane crash site for clues to cause
Air safety experts from France and Canada were in Taiwan on Saturday seeking an explanation for the crash of a TransAsia Airways flight GE222 that killed 48
International experts were examining the site of the fatal TransAsia Airways crash in Taiwan on Saturday, as new evidence surfaced that the plane may have collided with nearby trees before plunging to the ground.
Seven French and one Canadian expert representing France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety, the French-Italian aircraft maker ATR as well as aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney Canada arrived in Taiwan late on Friday to help investigate the crash that killed 48 people.
One expert stayed in Taipei to help examine the black boxes – which record cockpit voice and other in-flight data – while the rest flew to Magong earlier on Saturday to examine the wreckage that was moved to an air force base and inspect the crash site, officials said.
“ATR manufactured the plane and they know it the best, the structural engineer and technical specialists will provide us the information needed for the investigation,” said Thomas Wang, director of Taiwan’s Aviation Safety Council.
TransAsia Airways Flight GE222 carrying 54 passengers and four crew plunged into houses near the airport in Magong in the Penghu islands on Wednesday, leaving just 10 survivors, some of them badly injured. Two French medical students were among the dead.
The ATR 72-500 propeller plane was attempting to land for the second time after aborting the first attempt during thunder and heavy rain as Typhoon Matmo pounded Taiwan. It was on a domestic flight.