A survivor of the TransAsia plane crash has told how one of its engines sounded wrong as it took off and spoken of helping others to free themselves from the shattered and sinking aircraft after it plunged into a river in Taipei.

Huang Jin-sun said he had suspected trouble from the start of the flight leaving Taiwan’s capital. “There was some sound next to me. It did not feel right shortly after takeoff. The engine did not feel right,” the 72-year-old told ETTV television from his hospital bed.

Huang was one of 15 people who survived when the ATR 72-600 turbojet carrying 58 people crashed on Wednesday into a river soon after taking off. At least 32 people died.

Huang said he helped four other passengers unbuckle their seatbelts after the plane crashed and began sinking in the water.

“I saw others were drowning,” he said. “If I did not move quickly enough to help them, soon they would be dead.”

Huang Jin-shun, a survivor of the TransAsia crash, and his son Huang Hu-sheng. The 72-year-old helped four passengers escape as the cabin filled with river water. Photograph: Military News Agency/EPA

Also among the survivors was a family of three, including a two-year-old boy whose heart stopped beating after three minutes under water. He recovered after receiving CPR, his uncle Lin Ming-yi told reporters.

Moments before the plane banked sharply and crashed, one of its pilots called to the control tower: “Mayday, mayday, engine flameout,” according to an aviation official who asked not to be identified.



Flameout refers to a loss of combustion in the engine so that it no longer provides thrust. Causes can include a lack of fuel or foreign material getting into the engine.

The airline and the Taiwan Civil Aeronautical Administration have declined to speculate on the cause of the crash, the latest in a series of disasters befalling Asian airlines.

The TransAsia plane clips a taxi on a motorway bridge before crashing into the river below. Guardian

The ATR 72-600 plane, less than a year old, had one of its engines replaced by Pratt & Whitney Canada in April 2014 before it went into service because of a glitch with the original engine, the airline said.

The plane’s “black box” flight recorders have been recovered.

Video images of flight 235’s final moments in the air captured on car dashboard cameras appear to show the left engine’s propeller at standstill as the aircraft turned sharply, its wings becoming vertical and clipping a highway bridge before plunging into the Keelung river.

The pilots’ actions in the flight’s final moments have led to speculation that they attempted to avoid high-rise buildings by following the line of the river and then banked sharply in an attempt to bring it down in the water rather than crash on land.



The Taipei mayor, Ko Wen-je, praised pilot Liao Chien-tsung as a hero for having avoided crashing into buildings or major infrastructure. “We really have to thank that pilot,” Ko said. “He really tried his hardest.”

Police diver Cheng Ying-chih said the underwater search for those still missing was being hampered by low visibility in the turbid river and cold water temperatures that forced divers to work in one-hour shifts.



On Thursday about a dozen relatives of Taiwanese victims arrived at the riverbank to perform mourning rituals. Accompanied by Buddhist monks ringing brass bells, they bowed toward the river and held aloft cloth inscriptions tied to pieces of bamboo meant to guide the spirits of the dead to rest.

Relatives of some of the 31 passengers from mainland China have arrived in Taipei on a charter flight.

The Taiwanese president, Ma Ying-jeou, visited two Taipei hospitals to check on the condition of survivors and stopped at a morgue to comfort relatives of the victims, his office said.

“This kind of air safety incident not only wrecks countless happy families but also affects trust in our tourism climate among tourists from outside Taiwan,” the government said in a statement. “We must undergo this bitter experience and make all-out improvements.”

The ATR 72-600 is the most modern version of the plane manufactured by ATR, a joint venture between European plane maker Airbus and Italian aerospace company Alenia Aermacchi. About 1,200 of the planes are in use worldwide. ATR is helping with the Taiwan crash investigation.

TransAsia Airways is Taiwan’s third-biggest airline by fleet size after China Airlines and Eva Air. The pilot had 4,900 hours of flying experience, said Lin Chih-ming of the Civil Aeronautics Administration.

Associated Press material was used in this report