Transasia Airlines ATR-72 down in Taiwan
 

Early reports are coming in of a crash involving an ATR-72 operated by Transasia Airlines in Taiwan. The accident happened on PenHu which is part of the Pescadores group of Islands. The aircraft appears to have crashed while attempting to land. The ATR-72 has crashed into residential buildings, resulting in a hull loss and fire. 8 people are currently accounted for, and it appears that 48 passengers and crew have perished.
It is worth noting that a typhoon has passed through the region within the past 12 hours.

Taiwan Crash
 

FWIW, I live in Taiwan and am currently monitoring the news. Very, very inconsistent reporting between news agencies. We may need to wait a while until we can get more information on SOB and confirmed fatalities.

I am in Taiwan as well right now. It is not clear at all what happened, especially if the dead were the passengers or people at land since two houses have been involved. Some news say that some people are missing. We have to wait.

Also living in Taiwan, reports say 47 dead, 11 hurt, this happened just as a typhoon was leaving the area. A tragedy, early reports say the plane did a go around and then an emergency landing. 54 passengers, 4 crew.
That's a rough translation straight from the local news.

does anyone have the metar for this airport at the time of crash?
anyone have the link to an apch plate for runway in use?

Might be tricky to get that info as the airport is a domestic one not international + it's a somewhat military sensitive area.
The local weather service indicates a temp of 27C and wind at force 6, 10mm of rain an hour, if that's any help.

There don't seem to be any METARS for RCQC published online.

The Transport minister says 47 dead, 11 injured when GE 222 Kaohsiung-Penghu crashes outside Magong airport at approximately 1900hrs.

Seems to be a good airport with civilian operations.

One runway 02-20, 9,843 feet in length.

Seven IAPS:

ILS Rwy 2

RNAV Rwy 2

RNAV Rwy 20

VOR Rwy 02

VOR Rwy 20

NDB Rwy 02

NDB Rwy 20

As for the airport itself, Penghu is a set of connected islands, the runway is only just above sea level with approaches to both ends being over the sea. no hills or tall buildings on the approach.

Force 6 winds are 25kts thereabout.

The typhoon had already passed, and two aircraft from different companies, 1 using the same type, managed to land without event prior to this accident.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau shows very heavy rain at the exact time of the incident.

http://www.cwb.gov.tw/V7e/observe/ra...dex.htm?type=0

BBC News reporting it as a failed emergency landing.
BBC News - Taiwan TransAsia Airways plane crash 'kills dozens'

ASN Aircraft accident ATR 72-600 (72-212A) B-22817 Magong Airport (MZG)

Aircraft is only 4 months old.

That airport is known for high winds even when there is no typhoon passing through.

They should have a stricter standard about landings and take offs when a typhoon is in the area perhaps.

ASN got the Reg no. wrong.
According to Transasia press release. The reg no. of the plane should be 810 stead of 817. Serviced for 14 years.

I don't have the TAF for the time of the crash, but here's the current one:

And the METARS for this afternoon:
I think there have been thunderstorms around the area for most of the day after the typhoon went through earlier.

Based on that wind they may have been attempting to land Runway 20. Unless they had RNAV approach capability (LNAV/VNAV minimums) they would have been stuck with either a VOR or NDB approach.

Hello Sue,

Do you have a source for that information? I was unable to locate anything online for historical weather information.

According to Avherald they were attempting a landing on R02 cause apparently it's the only RWY with a CAT 1 ILS there, the published metar at the time was
RCQC 231110Z 25018G28KT 800 + TSRA SCT002 BKN006 FEW012CB OVC016 22/22 Q0998 RMK A2948 R20/0800 TS OVHD STNRY =
If we are to go by this then they had atleast 20kts tail.

I think the 20 TWC would be the least of your worries! I'd be more concerned with the 800m viz and +TS/CB overhead the field. Why would you even go near it let alone try an approach in it? Think of the down draught.

I know it's easy to sit and pontificate after the event but from what we know so far, on the face of it, this seems to be yet another accident caused by commencing an approach in totally inappropriate weather.....how many more?

Trans Asia accident record
 

According to Aviation Safety Net, this is the airline's first fatal accident with this aircraft type in which passengers have been killed. Two previous crashes - a positioning flight in 1995 and a freight service in 2002 - involved only crew casualties.

Benbecula, try here for the wx site:
???????? ???? TAMC Typhoon Briefing

Based on the horrible photos in this link, I'm astounded that anyone survived.

Taiwan?s TransAsia Air Crashes at Penghu, 48 Fatalities - Bloomberg

ROC Air Force denies any role in GE222 crash - The China Post


ROC Air Force denies any role in GE222 crash

By Joseph Yeh ,The China Post
July 31, 2014, 12:00 am TWN

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The R.O.C. Air Force yesterday refuted a local media report that alleged the Air Force could be responsible for a civilian airplane crash last week on the offshore island of Penghu.

TransAsia Flight GE222, which took off from Kaohsiung on the evening of July 23, crashed in Penghu, killing 48 of the 58 people on board.

The Chinese-language Next Magazine yesterday quoted a source as saying that the military could be partially responsible for the tragedy.

According to the magazine, the pilot of the aircraft, Lee Yi-liang (李義良), who was also killed in the accident, had previously asked the control tower of the Magong Airport if his plane could land on runway 2 instead of runway 20, due to the low visibility in the airspace near the airport.

The control tower of the joint military/civilian-use airport later asked the Air Force if the GE222 could land on the number 2 runway that is mostly used by military aircraft instead of civilian ones, the magazine said.

The number 2 runway is equipped with an Instrument Landing System (ILS), an internationally normalized system for navigation of aircraft on final approach for landing. With the ILS, it may be safer to land, the magazine said.

However, the military refused the request, ultimately leading to the crash of the airplane, the magazine claimed.

In response, the Air Force yesterday refuted the report, while expressing sincere protest over the “ungrounded accusation” the magazine raised.

The Air Force stressed the military had transferred jurisdiction over the Magong Airport to the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA, 民航局) as early as January 2001.

The CAA is now responsible for the control tower of the airport, it said in a released statement.

Also, all the fighter jets at the Magong air base were grounded on July 23 due to the stormy weather in the wake of Typhoon Matmo.

The control tower of the Magong Airport had full control over the landing and taking-off of all aircraft on that day, it noted.

The Air Force did not intervene with the tower control, it added.

The Air Force once again expressed regret over the tragedy. It added that the reason for the crash is now being investigated by the Aviation Safety Council (ASC).

CAA's Refutes Report

Meanwhile, the CAA yesterday also refuted the magazine report.

It confirmed that the pilot did ask the control tower to change to the number 2 runway before landing. According to regulations, the control tower needs to consult the Air Force before they approve or deny the request, according to the CAA.

However, the pilot later changed his mind and decided to try to land on runway 20 before the control tower could respond to his request, it said.

The CAA said it would not disclose more details about the accident because the investigation headed by ASC was still ongoing.



Wonder if this was a factor.

Pure conjecture: wonder if the attempt to land on 20 was due to not having enough fuel to wait for the conversation with the military.

And is there a cultural thing that equates declaring emergency with failure and humiliation, such that it's not done as often as in the West?

Yes. Absolutely there is.

372 page final report is here:

http://www.asc.gov.tw/upload/acd_att...-01-002-en.pdf

News Release:

Aviation Safety Council

Good summary: ASN News » Report: Intentional descent below MDA in thunderstorm causes ATR-72 CFIT accident in Taiwan

Ouch:

8. According to the flight recorders data, non-compliance with standard operating procedures (SOPs) was a repeated practice during the occurrence flight. The crew’s recurring non-compliance with SOPs constituted an operating culture in which high risk practices were routine and considered normal.

First of two.
 

A very damning report indeed. Unfortunately I think the next report to come out for TNA 235 will be even more damaging.

Yes, but for whom?

Regrettably this sort of behaviour is common place at TransAsia. Contact approach's, Weather Radar approaches, ignoring all and any minimums etc etc. All with the inevitable and tragic consequences we have seen so often. Welcome to Taiwan.....

Even better summary here: Safety Lessons from TransAsia ATR-72 Flight GE222 CFIT

Is Taiwan a particularly litigious country? If it is me thinks TransAsia have big problems ahead.