WATCH: When TransAsia flight GE235 crashed, at least 31 people were killed but others somehow managed to survive. Stuart Greer reports.
TORONTO – While Taiwanese rescuers continued to search through the wreckage of TransAsia Flight GE235 in the Keelong River early Thursday morning, questions remained as to what caused the deadly crash.
At least 26 people were killed when the French-Italian built ATR 72 lost control shortly after takeoff from Taiwan’s Sungshan Airport. Dramatic video caught the plane as it narrowly missed buildings, banked sharply, and then clipped a taxi cab and a bridge before crashing into the river.
Though the pilot reportedly issued a mayday shortly before the crash, it’s unclear what caused the plane to go out of control.
READ MORE: What is TransAsia Airlines?
There has been some speculation about the plane losing an engine.
Greg Walden, Asia managing editor at Flightglobal magazine in Singapore, said the ATR 72-600 is the latest iteration of one of the most popular turboprop planes in the world, particularly favoured for regional short-hop flights in Asia.
“It’s too early now to speculate on whether it was an issue with the aircraft or crew,” Waldron said.
If the plane did lose an engine, it could have been caused by many factors: birds, foreign objects or fuel contamination.
Scott Hamilton of Leeham Company, an aviation consultant company, agrees. He added that, if the plane did lose an engine or had an engine flameout, planes are designed to be able to take off with one engine.
“So from a technical standpoint the airplane should have been able to continue its takeoff. Particularly if the flame-out occurred well after the airplane had lifted off the runway.”
Hamilton cited an incident when a Boeing 757 sucked a bird into the engine. Despite the engine failure, it was able to take off and return to the airport safely.
READ MORE: Crashed Taiwan plane hoisted from river; 26 confirmed dead
And in 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 struck geese before landing safely in the Hudson river in New York City.
“So the question is, if he had a flame-out here, why wasn’t the airplane able to continue its take off?”
Hamilton said the investigation will examine all factors, including pilot action. The fact that the plane missed several buildings may indicate that the pilot was attempting to save lives on the ground.
“If he feels he’s going to lose the airplane, he makes this drastic maneouver to get away from the city and not hurt people on the ground.”
It’s likely that the black boxes will be recovered quickly. Hamilton said that for that reason, investigators will have basic answers to the crash within days. However, the formal investigation could take a year or more.
Most airline incidents occur during landing or takeoff. However, they’re rarely deadly.
“A surprising number of accidents are in fact survivable,” Hamilton said.
As to the seeming preponderance of airline accidents in Asia, Hamilton said that it’s not necessarily indicative of safety issues for Asian airlines.
He noted that Malaysia Flight 17 was shot down in Ukraine July 17, 2014 and Malaysia Flight 370 went missing a few months before, on March 8. No one knows what became of the missing plane.
As for the AirAsia Flight 8501 that occurred on Dec. 28, 2014, the investigation is still ongoing, so it’s still unknown what was responsible for the crash. And TransAsia’s flight that crashed into homes on the island of Pengu in the Taiwan straight last July, was the country’s first civil aviation accident since 2002.
–with files from The Associated Press
Comments