New Delhi: The pilot of the crashed TransAsia Flight 235 was still holding the joystick in the plane's cockpit when his body was found two days after the crash on Wednesday during the rescue operation, media reported said on Friday.
The TransAsia Airways ATR 72-600 took off from Taipei's downtown Songshan airport and was bound for the Taiwan island of Kinmen. Among those on board were 31 tourists from China, mainly from the southwestern city of Xiamen.It was crashed shortly after take-off, hitting an elevated road as it banked steeply away from buildings and into the Keelung River.
The pilot, identified by TransAsia as 41-year-old Liao Chien-tsung, was among the 35 people who lost their lives. He has been praised by Taipei's mayor for steering the plane with 53 passengers and five crew on board, between apartment blocks and commercial buildings before ditching the stalled aircraft in a river, thus avoiding more deaths and damage. His body was found in the cockpit still holding the joystick with both hands, and with his legs badly fractured, the Taipei-based China Times newspaper said.
"He struggled to hold onto the joystick till the last moment before the plane plunged into the river, in an attempt to control its direction and to reduce casualties," the report said, citing unnamed prosecutors investigating the case.Taiwanese leaders and citizens have mourned Liao, with major newspapers running front-page tributes hailing him for saving many lives.
Despite the bad weather, hundreds of rescue divers continued the search operation of missing people with four more bodies retrieved on Friday. Meanwhile, authorities banned the airline from applying for new routes for one year in the wake of the latest incident. Wednesday's accident, which occurred on a domestic route to the island of Kinmen, was the second fatal crash for TransAsia after a July disaster that left 48 people dead.
"We have imposed a one-year ban on TransAsia from applying for new routes as a penalty," said Civil Aeronautics Administration director Lin Tyh-ming. Taiwanese media said the authorities were looking into allegations against the airline including labour shortages and insufficient training which could have affected safety standards.
"There is a manpower shortage of pilots... TransAsia has to recruit pilots with less experience from other companies after more than 20 of it pilots went to two newer airlines," the Apple Daily said, citing unnamed sources.
