TransAsia Flight 235 Accident

Running head: TRANSASIA FLIGHT 235 ACCIDENT 1
TransAsia Flight 235 Accident
Name
Institution

TRANSASIA FLIGHT 235 ACCIDENT
Executive Summary
In 2015, a TransAsia Airways plane crashed in the shallow Keelung River. Forty-three
occupants lost their lives in the accident, while 13 passengers escaped with serious injuries.
The impact force damaged the aeroplane. Before crashing in the shallow river, the aeroplane's
left wing hit a small taxi injuring the driver and one passenger. Experts have blamed the
accident on many factors. Immediately after take-off, the aeroplane experienced a
discontinuity in its second engine’s auto feather unit. Because of the unordered engine two
auto feather, the pilots did not execute the relevant emergency and abnormal procedures to
pinpoint the malfunction and put in place the necessary corrective measures. The plane lost
thrust during its initial climb which generated many stall warnings. The pilots failed to detect
and correct the power loss. Besides, they ignored many stall warnings and did not act
promptly. As such, the accident could be prevented if the flight crew could take actions to
bring the flight back to stability, identify the problem in the propellers, and follow relevant
procedures to handle the engine two flameouts during take-off.

TRANSASIA FLIGHT 235 ACCIDENT
Table of Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................2
1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................4
2.0 Findings................................................................................................................................5
2.1 The Chain of Events Leading to the Eventual Mishap.....................................................5
2.1.1 The Flight Begins.......................................................................................................5
2.1.2 One Engine Flames Out.............................................................................................6
2.1.3 Another Engine is Accidentally Shut Down..............................................................6
2.1.4 The Plane Crashes......................................................................................................7
2.2 The Primary and Secondary Causes of the Crash............................................................8
2.3 Consequences of the Accident..........................................................................................9
3.0 Conclusions..........................................................................................................................9
4.0 Recommendations..............................................................................................................10
Appendices...............................................................................................................................11
Appendix I: Abnormal and Emergency Procedures.............................................................11
Appendix II: Normal Checklist............................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................13

TRANSASIA FLIGHT 235 ACCIDENT
1.0 Introduction
On 4th February 2015, an ATR72-212A aircraft, with two captains, two cabin crews,
fifty-eight passengers and one first officer were involved in an accident. The pane fell in
Keelung River at approximately 1054, Taipei local time (Roth, 2018). The aircraft was
completely damaged during the crash with its wreckage sinking in the shallow river, as
shown in Figure 1. During the accident, 39 passengers, three flight officials, and one Cubin
crew sustained fatal injuries (Roth, 2018). Furthermore, one member of the cabin crew and
13 passengers on board were seriously injured while one passenger escaped with slight
injuries. When the plane flew above an overpass before crashing and getting in Keelung
River, it clipped a nearby taxi injuring the driver and one passenger. The present report has
provided the events that preceded the accident, the reasons why the aircraft crashed, the
impact of the crash and recommendations that can be adopted to prevent future accidents.
Figure 1: The Main Wreckage of the Plane in the Keelung River. Source: Aviation
Safety Council (2016)