Taiwan Aviation Experts Determine TransAsia Flight Crashed Due to Combined Engine Failure

Aviation officials in Taiwan have pinpointed the malfunction of the TransAsia Airways jet that crashed in Taipei on Tuesday, saying a "lack of thrust" in both of the engines caused the plane to lose momentum and go crashing into the river.

After recovering the black box data from the Keelung River in Taipei, where remnants of TransAsia flight GE235 lay, aviation authorities have been able to determine that the plane crashed Tuesday due to a combined lack of thrust.

As Reuters reports, aviation experts are now questioning if pilots of the plane cut the wrong engine when the plane began malfunctioning shortly after takeoff from Taipei's airport. The pilots received warnings that the right engine's combustion had "flamed out," and was therefore not delivering enough thrust to keep the propeller going. The black box indicates that pilots then cut power to the left engine in an attempt to restart it, but the engine did not muster enough thrust on its restart.

The plane's combined lack of thrust caused it to turn vertical in the air as it narrowly missed apartment buildings, clipped a taxi cab and a freeway overpass and went tumbling into the Yeelung River, killing 31 with 12 people still missing.

"The first engine experienced a problem 37 seconds after take-off at 1,200 feet," Thomas Wang, managing director of the Aviation Safety Council, told Reuters.

"The flight crew stepped on the accelerator of engine 2 (righthand side) [...] The engine was still operating, but neither engine produced power,' Wang added.