The Aviation Safety Council has released an accident report on the crash of TransAsia Airways flight 222. The flight crashed in the Penghu Islands off Taiwan’s western coast on July 23, 2014.
Nine of the ten reasons for the crash listed in the report involve pilot error. The other reason given is limited visibility. The crash killed 48 of the 58 people onboard and seriously injured five on the ground.
Aviation Safety Council Chief Executive Wong Hsing-chong gave details about the accident report on Friday.
“First, we are basically saying that the pilots did not follow standard operating procedure, which mandates the maintenance of an airplane’s altitude above minimum descent altitude (MDA)," said Wong.
"He instead flew below the MDA. Secondly, when he missed the entrance point of the runway, he did not follow procedure and fly back around. He was supposed fly back around because the plane was already below MDA at that point [and was unsafe to land]. Due to the pilots’ mistakes in operation and a strong wind, the plane deviated left from its course. Poor weather diminished visibility. When the two pilots decided to fly back up, the plane was only 72 meters above the ground and it was too late. It crashed into a residential area.”
Wong said their investigation over the past year and a half shows that TransAsia Airway’s training program has issues on a number of levels. The safety council has suggested improvements to the airline.