Report Shows TransAsia Pilot Confirmed Shutting Off Wrong Engine
A key point in the report's summary is that, after one of the engines lost power, the cockpit voice recorder shows the pilot acknowledged before impact that he had shut off the other engine by mistake.
Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council has released its factual report on the Feb. 4, 2015, crash of TransAsia Airways passenger flight GE 235 moments after it took off from Taipei Songshan Airport. The twin-engine turboprop aircraft pinwheeled to the left, its left wing striking a taxicab, a barrier, and a light pole on an elevated roadway before the plane plunged into the Keelung River. Forty-three of the 58 people on board (three flight crew members, two cabin crew members, and 53 passengers) were killed; 13 passengers and one cabin crew member were seriously injured, and one passenger sustained a minor injury.
A key point in the report's summary is that, after one of the engines lost power, the cockpit voice recorder shows the pilot acknowledged before impact that he had shut off the other engine by mistake.
The Aviation Safety Council established a team to conduct the investigation, with members from Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration, Ministry of Justice (Institute of Forensic Medicine), Tri-Service General Hospital, and TransAsia Airways. After four months of on-scene investigations and follow-up work, ASC completed the factual data reports, and these were approved by ASC's board on June 30.
The summary says eight seconds before impact, the pilot said, "Wow pulled back the wrong side throttle." The aircraft had stalled and was then at an altitude of 309 feet.