(Photo courtesy of Weng Yao-wen)
Update:
48 confirmed dead, 10 injured in TransAsia plane crash (July 24)
Taipei, July 23 (CNA) Forty-seven people were killed and 11 others injured when a passenger plane operated by TransAsia Airways crashed on the outlying island county of Penghu Wednesday.
Transportation Minister Yeh Kuang-shih said there were 58 people -- 54 passengers and four crew members -- on board the twin-engine turboprop ATR 72 when it crashed in a village on Penghu.
Yeh confirmed that 47 people had died in the crash and there were 11 survivors who all suffered various injuries.
The Penghu fire department said the aircraft was trying to land in poor weather conditions when it crashed on the second attempt and caught fire.
The flight, coded GE 222, was scheduled to take off from Kaohsiung at 4 p.m., heading for Magong. The departure, however, was delayed until 5:43 p.m. due to bad weather.
As the plane was preparing to land at Magong Airport in heavy rain, it was forced to pull up because of poor visibility, the Penghu fire department said.
On its second attempt at landing, the aircraft crashed in the village of Xixi in Penghu's Huxi Township, the fire department said.
(By Cheng Che-fon, Wang Shu-fen and Elizabeth Hsu)
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TransAsia Airways flight GE 222
Aircraft type: ATR72-500, 72 seats
From Kaohsiung (KHH) to Magong (MZG)
Scheduled departure time: 4 p.m.
Actual departure time: 5:43 p.m.
Request go-around: 7:06 p.m.
Passenger: 54 / Crew: 4
Source: Kaohsiung International Airport / Civil Aeronautics Administration
Related stories:
●July 23: TransAsia flight crashed on go-around: CAA
●July 23: Military helping out with aftermath of Penghu plane crash
●July 23: Transportation minister to fly to Penghu for updates on plane crash