The Aviation Safety Council (ASC) says human error caused the crash of TransAsia flight GE235 in February last year. The flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Taipei’s Songshan Airport, killing 43 and leaving 17 injured, including two people on the ground. There were 15 survivors.
According to the ASC’s final accident investigation report released Thursday, the pilots failed to follow proper procedure. The report says the pilots should have aborted takeoff after realizing that a power-control system had not been armed.
The report also says that poor communication between the pilots led to a series of mistakes that ended with the crash. These included cutting power to the aircraft’s fully functioning left-hand engine rather than the right-hand engine where there were indications of trouble.
The ASC said there are serious problems with TransAsia’s flight risk management culture. It recommended that the airline set out clear rules about when takeoff cannot go ahead.