Taiwanese cargo plane crashes while flying to Macau, officials say
24 minutes ago
TAIPEI, Taiwan - A Taiwanese cargo plane with a crew of two crashed early Saturday in the Taiwan Strait while flying to Macau, officials said.
TransAsia Airways Flight GE791 disappeared from radar screens about 50 minutes after taking off from Taipei's international airport at 1:05 a.m. local time, said Kay Yong, the chief investigator at Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council.
Debris believed to be from the French-made ATR72-200 plane was found Saturday morning near the Penghu Island chain, off Taiwan's west coast, said Billy Chang, director of the Civil Aeronautics Administration.
The pilot, Pan Teh-chung, was an ex-air force flier, an airline official said. The plane, which was carrying a cargo of fabric and leather, was 10 years old and was last inspected on Nov. 18, the official said.
Cloud cover at the time of the accident was thick, he said. Just before contact was lost, the plane requested to lower its altitude from 5,454 meters (18,000 feet) to 4,848 meters (16,000 feet), Yong said.
Investigators have been dispatched to inspect all of TransAsia's other planes of the same type, said Chang.