I'm a longtime reader and finally have something to contribute. I live in Taiwan and fly back and forth between Hualien Taiwan and Taipei almost weekly. Transasia is the only carrier that services our town and really the only domestic carrier aside from a few Mandarin airlines connection flights.
I just checked my photos and I flew on this EXACT plane last year on July 24th from Songshan airport. The flight really stood out to me because the plane was very new with different lighting and interior finishes than the rest of their ATR-72 fleet.
This plane had the oddest vibration in the engine. I normally sit up in seat 2D, ahead of the props since noise is lower. That wasn't the case on this plane. When they started the engine the vibration was intense up front and continually rattled the emergency exit door. The flight itself was uneventful. I've flown on this type over 50 times and this one was unusual. I usually enjoy flying on a new aircraft, but not in this case. Here is a photo from boarding that night on the tarmac. I'm now seriously considering taking the train or driving until TransAsia gets their issues sorted out. Sadly tour-bus and truck filled mountain roads here are pretty dangerous.
