Horrendous… 😯

BBC news story

[video]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ryViy7p8BSg[/video]

Terrible scenes..

Jeeeebus! That is some picture.

Speculation, but I’m guessing the pilot knew he has going down and aimed for the river? If so then it sounds like his actions may have saved a good number of the passengers.

Edit: looking at the video it is less clear.

that’s bad.

almost looks like the wing clipped a building?
the car/van in front either got a bit of wingtip or just dodged it. Either way – possible narrow escape.

The take off and landing in Taipei is pretty scary. The planes fly between high rise buildings so close you can see the people in their living rooms watching TV. It looks like the wings are only a few metres away from the walls of the buildings. Then throw the local pilots into the mix who are generally ex air force who still think they are the modern day red baron and it’s an accident waiting to happen.

Wow, I think the pilot did really well to get the plane into a “soft” landing.
Either way, a lot of people died 🙁

I wouldn’t wanted to have been in the van or mini bus that the wing clips, mental. 🙁

Either way, a lot of people died

Only 12 out of 58 (at the moment) which seems like a miracle. I was sure everyone would be dead.

Perversely, does hitting the bridge like that actually help by shearing half the wing off and allowing more of a flat splashdown for the fuselage?

Pilot does well to both avoid the high-rises and hit the river. Could’ve been utter carnage.

Agreed, from what we’ve seen so far the pilot deserves a lot of credit for the death toll being in the tens and not the hundreds.

The driver of the yellow vehicle that got clipped is probably going to need new trousers after that though!

I was shocked by the TV footage but noticed the back end of the plane one of the tips of the aerlons seems shorter than the other? Would that not cause a major issue? RIP those that perished…. I can only imagine what was going through the pilots mind….no doubt similar to one of those…..OTB, I’ve got this, it’s going to be close but I’ve got it, I’ll make it a soft landing, oh shit!

Quite amazing anyone got out alive, sad for those that died but a miracle anyone survived and as I understand it the plane ended up in the river.

Two cars had footage, obviously a trend to have cameras in cars in case of road accidents. See that quite a bit around the world now.

Pilot taking drastic action to try and get the plan down onto the river as I cannot imagine there where any other options.

Those stills and the video are pictue perfect my recurring nightmare, when i first saw it on bbc breakfast this morning i thought i had a false awakening (i’ve had it before from the same dream).

Shocking pics and terrible loss of life, but looking at it the pilot seems to have saved many lives aiming for the river and avoiding all those buildings.

noticed the back end of the plane one of the tips of the aerlons seems shorter than the other?

The stabiliser is at the top of the tail fin, so it just looks like that because of the angle.

News reported tonight pilot called “mayday mayday engine flame out”

Which if true, might explain the high rate of descent into the river.

Looks like a stall, left wing drops sharply.
Can’t quite make it out but it looks like his #1 engine (left) is out, can’t see if prop is feathered or not.

But it looks like his #2 is turning. If his autofeather didn’t work on his #1 I guess he could be struggling for performance…..
I’m sure they’ll have the data pretty soon.

RIP to those souls lost.

I was thinking same as Mikertroid, reckon he is trying to crash land on the other side of the river but the speed is so low the plane stalls, left wing drops and it comes down on its side in the river.

Can’t see any reason why he would try to land whilst banking, or try to land in a small river he is heading across at 45 degrees, neither of those are going to end well. The only reason would be to save lives on the ground but I think from what I watched on the BBC yesterday, the far bank was not built up. (watching again, there is a green patch where he was headed but not much chance of success)

No expert here, but did the pilot try and just avoid the buildings, at which point he ran out of lift, and then dropped like a stone 🙁

This is the taxi that was hit, very lucky.

Unfortunately the number who have died seems to be higher now.

very lucky.

Being hit by a plane is lucky?!

See that 2 year old boy, rescued from the wreckage this morning. Amazing. He wasn’t even crying.

@neil, hand’t seen that photo. Quite incredible. I did hear a report that the driver passed out with shock/fear.

@mike & funky – there are a few graphics which show the path from take off and it does look like the pilot was trying to find a spot without buildings, he’d diverted along the river and the area he crashed in was relatively open. My guess is he knew he was coming down with no hope of returning to the airfield and just did his best to avoid hitting a building and find an area he had some chance of a “controlled” landing

neilwheel – Member

This is the taxi that was hit, very lucky.

If he’d allowed a proper stopping distance or swerved into the inside lane he’d have been fine- noob.

Jamba,

Not seen the graphic, but if you”ve lost a donk on take-off and the autofeather didn’t activate, you would be aiming for the gaps rather than the buildings! However in the clip the moment (about 1second in) that left wing violently dropped, no-one was flying the aeroplane or controlling its flight path as it was stalled.

Seeing the drop from the bridge down to the river/river bank I’m amazed anyone got out alive. Really big drop and the footage of the survivors/boy drew a tear I must admit.

Is that the taxi driver sat down? I’d take up smoking if that was me there and then.

hora – Member

Is that the taxi driver sat down? I’d take up smoking if that was me there and then.

I’d take up buying lottery tickets! If he’d have been 1/4 second further down the road, he’d likely be dead!

Seeing the drop from the bridge down to the river/river bank I’m amazed anyone got out alive. Really big drop and the footage of the survivors/boy drew a tear I must admit.

Is that the taxi driver sat down? I’d take up smoking if that was me there and then.

If it had been onto land at that rate of descent the plane would have gone up in a fireball, killing anyone who survived the impact. Landing on water possibly saved quite a few people.

Watching the footage again earlier, and reading through this thread, it’s astonishing the plane came down as well as it did, the taxi actually carrying on upright after an impact like that, with the occupants surviving is miraculous. If the plane had dropped a few more feet a few seconds earlier it would have taken out the entire road, probably with zero survivors.
Certainly one of the most incredible bits of video footage I’ve ever seen.
Desperately sad for the families of the deceased, they really don’t seem to be having a whole lot of luck with their airliners in that part of the world recently. 😐

The news showed the footage after the plane hits the taxi and you can see the driver get out of the car and straight on the phone and,if I understood correctly, called his boss to tell him that a plane had hit his taxi. The boss replies with ‘You mean a model plane?’ ‘No one with a pilot’.

Being reported that the plane lost power in the right engine, the pilot then stopped and tried to restart the left