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Omaha Steve

(99,660 posts)
Wed Feb 4, 2015, 11:37 PM Feb 2015

Death toll hits 31 in Taiwan plane crash, with 12 missing

Source: AP-Excite

By RALPH JENNINGS

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Rescuers were searching for 12 people Thursday morning after using a crane to hoist the fuselage of a wrecked TransAsia Airways plane from a shallow river in Taiwan's capital following a crash that killed at least 31 others.

Flight 235 with 58 people aboard — many of them travelers from China — banked sharply on its side Wednesday shortly after takeoff from Taipei, clipped a highway bridge and then careened into the Keelung River.

Rescuers in rubber rafts pulled 15 people alive from the wreckage during daylight. After dark, they brought in the crane, and the death toll was expected to rise once crews were able to search through submerged portions of the fuselage, which came to rest a few dozen meters (yards) from the shore.

Dramatic video clips apparently taken from cars were posted online and aired by broadcasters, showing the ATR 72 propjet as it pivoted onto its side while zooming toward a traffic bridge over the river. In one of them, the plane rapidly fills the frame as its now-vertical wing scrapes over the road, hitting a vehicle before heading into the river.

FULL story at link.



This image taken from video provided by TVBS shows a commercial airplane moments before it clipped an elevated roadway and careened into a river in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015. The ATR-72 prop-jet aircraft had 58 people aboard. (AP Photo/TVBS) TAIWAN OUT; ATV HONG KONG OUT;


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150205/as--taiwan-plane_crash-4c9f6e0292.html

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Death toll hits 31 in Taiwan plane crash, with 12 missing (Original Post) Omaha Steve Feb 2015 OP
Tragedy. 840high Feb 2015 #1
The pilot barely avoided hitting the blocks of apartments Warpy Feb 2015 #2
ATR-72. This aircraft doesn't have a very good record... Ghost Dog Feb 2015 #3
You have to put that in perspective Major Nikon Feb 2015 #4

Warpy

(111,275 posts)
2. The pilot barely avoided hitting the blocks of apartments
Wed Feb 4, 2015, 11:55 PM
Feb 2015


The driver of the taxi that was clipped survived. The taxi, not so much.

It's sad watching the death toll climb so far, so quickly.
 

Ghost Dog

(16,881 posts)
3. ATR-72. This aircraft doesn't have a very good record...
Thu Feb 5, 2015, 07:07 AM
Feb 2015

(But then, icing and such apart, since we know that a high percentage of aircraft replacement parts are recycled crap introduced into the supply chain by criminals and purchased by possibly also criminal owners and managers who care only about their 'bottom lines' (including at the Pentagon), anything is possible these days...):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATR_72


On 31 October 1994, American Eagle Flight 4184, an ATR 72–212 crashed due to icing in Roselawn, Indiana killing all 68 people on board.
On 30 January 1995, an ATR 72-200 of TransAsia Airways crashed during flight from Penghu to Taipei. Four crew members were killed.[35]
On 21 December 2002, TransAsia Airways (TNA) cargo flight 791, an ATR 72–200, crashed due to icing during flight from Taipei to Macau. Both crew members were killed. The aircraft encountered severe icing conditions beyond the icing certification envelope of the aircraft and crashed into sea 17 km southwest of Makung city. The Aviation Safety Council of Taiwan investigation found that the crash was caused by ice accumulation around the aircraft's major components, resulting in a loss of control. The investigation found that flight crew did not respond to the severe icing conditions with the appropriate alert situation awareness and did not take the necessary actions.[36]
On 6 August 2005, Tuninter Flight 1153, a Tuninter ATR 72–202 en route from Bari, Italy, to Djerba, Tunisia, ditched in the Mediterranean Sea about 18 miles (29 km) from the city of Palermo. 16 of the 39 people on board died. The accident resulted from engine fuel exhaustion due to the installation of fuel quantity indicators designed for the ATR 42 in the larger ATR 72.[37]
On 24 August 2008, an Air Dolomiti ATR 72–500 en route from Munich, Germany, to Bologna, Italy, aborted take off after the pilot announced a smoke alarm. The airline treated the aircraft's evacuation as a mild incident. On 26 August, an amateur video, filmed by a bystander, showed 60 passengers jumping from and fleeing the burning aircraft before fire department workers extinguished the flames.[38]
On 4 August 2009, Bangkok Airways Flight 266, an ATR 72-212A from Bangkok Airways skidded into a disused tower at the airport on Koh Samui. The pilot of the aircraft died and 10 passengers were injured.
On 10 November 2009, Kingfisher Airlines Flight 4124, operated by ATR 72-212A VT-KAC skidded off the runway after landing at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, subsequently damaging the nose section severely. The aircraft came to a halt just a few metres away from the fuel tanks of the airport. All 46 passengers and crew escaped unharmed.[39]
On 4 November 2010, Aero Caribbean Flight 883, operated by an ATR 72–212, with 61 passengers and 7 crew members, crashed at Guasimal, Cuba, while en route from Santiago de Cuba to Havana. All 68 people on board were killed. The accident was due to the prevailing meteorological conditions and to the wrong decisions made by the crew.[40] The flight was due in Havana at 7:50 p.m. but had reported an emergency and lost contact with air traffic control at 5:42 p.m.[41]
On 17 July 2011, Aer Arann ATR 72–212 EI-SLM was damaged beyond economical repair when the nose gear collapsed on landing at Shannon International Airport, Ireland. The aircraft was operating an international scheduled passenger flight from Manchester Airport, United Kingdom. There were no injuries amongst the 4 crew and 21 passengers on board.[42]
On 13 February 2012 Danish Air Transport DX627, operated by an ATR 72–200 with 16 passengers en route from Bergen to Moss (Oslo) Airport Rygge had trouble with the front landing wheel and performed an emergency landing at Rygge Airport. All passengers and crew escaped unharmed.[43]
On 2 April 2012, UTair Flight 120, a ATR 72–201 crashed soon after takeoff from Roshchino International Airport in western Siberia. 33 of the 43 passengers and crew on board were killed.[44] the crash cause was wrong de-icing procedures. The flight was from Tyumen to Surgut with 39 passenger and four crew members.
On 2 February 2013, a Carpatair ATR 72–212A flying on behalf of Alitalia crashed at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome while landing after a flight from Pisa. 16 people were injured, 2 seriously, including the co-pilot. During the interval between the crash that Saturday evening and sunrise on Sunday, the turboprop – which had worn Alitalia's green, white and red livery – was repainted entirely in white.[45]
On 16 October 2013, Lao Airlines Flight 301, an ATR 72–600 crashed into the Mekong River whilst on approach to Pakse International Airport, Laos, killing all 49 people on board.[46] This incident marks the first ATR 72–600 to be written off in a crash.
On 23 July 2014, TransAsia Airways Flight 222, an ATR 72-500 crashed into hard ground whilst attempting an emergency landing on approach to Magong in Taiwan's Penghu county in the Taiwan Strait, killing 48-51 people and injuring 8.[47][48][49]
On 4 February 2015, TransAsia Airways Flight 235, an ATR 72-600 carrying 58 people crashed in Taipei, striking a road bridge before ending up in a river. This portion of the crash was captured on video by a car driving on the bridge. [50] Taiwan's civil aviation authority said 31 people were killed and more than 12 people were still missing.[51] At least 15 passengers survived. [52] The ATR-72 had just taken off from Taipei Songshan Airport and was headed to the outlying Kinmen islands, just off the coast of south-east China. [53] Initial media reports indicate that the pilot called a mayday for an engine flameout. [54]


We fly these here between the Canary Islands. I prefer boats.

Major Nikon

(36,827 posts)
4. You have to put that in perspective
Thu Feb 5, 2015, 01:51 PM
Feb 2015

Keep in mind there are a shit-ton of them out there.

There have been 1500 747s produced over the last 44 years. There have been almost as many ATR-72s produced over the last 25 years.

There have been 15 accidents for the ATR-72 and not all of those have been full hull losses. Compare that to 124 accident/incidents including 49 full hull losses for the 747.

The 747s almost certainly have more miles flown and hours than the ATR-72, but I suspect the number of takeoffs and landings are probably in the same ballpark.

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