In a plane crash in Taiwan, 31 died

In Taiwan, the number of people killed in the crash of a TransAsia Airways airline crashing into the Jilong River near Taipei is rising. According to the latest data, at least 31 people died.

There were 58 people on board the plane - 53 passengers and 5 crew members, the majority were tourists from mainland China.

Rescuers for several hours tried to rescue the people aboard.

Managed to save 15 people, 12 are considered missing.

In the evening, with the help of a crane, the wreckage of the aircraft was lifted ashore.

Rescuers could not open the fuselage while it was in the water to rescue people sitting in the nose of the aircraft.

A few minutes before the crash of TransAsia Airways’s ATR-72 turboprop aircraft departed from Taipei Songshan Airport.

He headed for the Taiwan Kinmen Archipelago, located near mainland China.

Air traffic controllers have lost contact with the aircraft in 10: 55 local time.

The photographs and video of the disaster show how the plane tilted sharply, touched the wing of a taxi first, and then the bridge, and fell into the river.
According to the correspondent of BBC in Taipei, Chinese tourists, apparently, were returning home.

Many tourists from China arrive in Taiwan via the Kinmen Islands.

Over the past seven months, this is already the second disaster of TransAsia Airways.

In July last year, its similar turboprop aircraft ATR-72 crashed in stormy weather near the Taiwanese Penghu archipelago. Then 48 people died, 15 suffered.

Statistics

Commercial flight crashes claimed the largest number of lives last year, with 986 people killed in plane crashes.

537 people were killed in the crash of two flights of the same airline - Malaysia Airlines.

At the same time, in 2014, commercial airline companies used 3,3 for a billion passengers on 27 million flights, according to a report posted on AirlineRatings.com.

Last year, an 21 crash occurred, a record low.

So, despite the high death toll in the past year, statistically the flights in 2014 were the safest in the entire history of aviation.

Safety in numbers:

986 people died during commercial flight crashes in 2014
537 man died on two Malaysia Airlines flights
In total, 2014 billion people used commercial flights in 3,3 year.
In 2014, 27 has been flown on millions of flights.
60% of passengers are statistically afraid to fly

Source - BBC Russian Service