Taiwan’s TransAsia Airways GE222 flight crashed Wednesday during an emergency landing on Penghu, killing 47 people and injuring 11. The airline stated that the reason for the emergency landing was because of inclement weather, but the exact reason for the failure of the initial attempt for landing is unknown as of now.
Typhoon Matmo, a tropical storm which hit Taiwan earlier on Wednesday, brought winds up to 67 mph and caused more than 30,000 homes to blackout, according to a report from the Guardian.
However, although many flights were canceled due to Matmo, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) stated that the weather conditions in Penghu were acceptable for landing. Two flights arrived without problems just before the GE222, director general of the CAA Jean Shen mentioned.
The Guardian further reported that the Aviation Safety Council “has called an emergency meeting to look into the cause of the accident," to determine whether the weather was to blame, or if it was a human error.
Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) reported that Hsu Yi-Tsung, the general manager of TransAsia Airways, has “tearfully apologized for the accident […] pledging to spare no effort in the rescue operation and to transport relatives of passengers on the flight to Magong on Thursday morning.”
A statement from TransAsia Airways also explained that the plane used in the GE222 flight had been in use for 13 years, and that the pilot, Lee Yi-Liang, had 22 years of experience and up to 23,000 flying hours on his record.
