A Taiwanese flight with 58 people turned on its side in mid-air, clipped an elevated roadway and careened into a river Wednesday shortly after take-off from the island’s capital of Taipei, killing at least 15 people, local media and officials said.
![Rescuers clustered around the plane in rubber boats more than two hours after the crash, and could be seen pulling carry-on luggage from an open plane door. Wally Santana / AP Photo](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/XZRX66WQYLQG4KTIKXLUW63CP4.jpg?smart=true&auth=2c078ee1a55cb4234e54d914c50ca07c07e3766d388c629aca63231e09ee2d1d&width=400&height=225)
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/6TOEJTCY3NH4UCBDTHLJ53TGRQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=a5af6033a2f88da40fccf79588b818694c2f8cf793eacd2a921b03dc692ca41d&width=400&height=225)
![The death toll in the TransAsia Airways flight is expected to rise as rescue crews cleared the mostly sunken fuselage in the Keelung River a metres from the shore. Wally Santana / AP Photo](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/FLPXKO5P43QFYLJDIYMNXWHERA.jpg?smart=true&auth=5951989b428f9b3662a027b8fe5ecec3b95fd078ae71497cb7ece933cfc5380d&width=400&height=225)
![Emergency personnel work on top of the wreckage. AP Photo](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/6AHTCSSTHZQ5UFUKLTQDOMUBDU.jpg?smart=true&auth=3bbd21f5d63f362a6a6371ac9351af37eb8347eb536257dd4ebb9c2a8995b221&width=400&height=225)
![Teams of rescuers in rubber rafts clustered around the wreckage. Sam Yeh / AFP Photo](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/R7E4S27EYNPHSB35HHECC2C7MM.jpg?smart=true&auth=b7e19431801426fb3d1e2fb2a37615080d9c431c84d55f77fdf11d268bf81b0f&width=400&height=225)
![The ATR 72 prop-jet aircraft was flying on its side, with one wing scraping past Taiwan’s National Freeway No. 1 just seconds before it plunged into the river. Sam Yeh / AFP Photo](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/UWRGRE2TI7AV7RNOXKHA7CW5BQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=e793878892276bfaaa19ac8ca32c30b2a86b7cbfda3ea5593b2776a8a319473a&width=400&height=225)
![It was TransAsia’s second French-Italian-built ATR 72 to crash in the past year. Sam Yeh / AFP Photo](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/X6YOMKWHFRTWFPYG6WTRU4D7OE.jpg?smart=true&auth=9c08c3acd62bed1085d64abdbb125eb325f05cbdaf9051688ceb71f0f3b05839&width=400&height=225)
![Soldiers recover plane wreckage and passengers’ luggage. David Chang / EPA](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/P744JT5RZDYB2O4JR76IHAE67E.jpg?smart=true&auth=9a2d19664fe46c4e0736b3f578447df1a2abf99913474946e9797ede0b09c91f&width=400&height=225)
![A rescue crew carries a window from a TransAsia Airways ATR 72-600. Ashley Pon / Getty Images](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/HWZXNMNITBXRJUW4F6MNQQPMYA.jpg?smart=true&auth=0a0f4e44b7343b4ad261308778054fe87d5cd1101c7f8c60d478d708434ff1d6&width=400&height=225)
![CNA said the flight from Taipei to the outlying island of Kinmen lost contact with flight controllers at 10:55am (6.55am UAE) and the fuselage landed in the Keelung River near the city’s downtown Sungshan airport. Ashley Pon / Getty Images](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/5TG4O5TOLF7PPAWDGPO2UKETU4.jpg?smart=true&auth=aefbc710be5c4e49a07788c8ce8f6058c8b5d51ad20dead5f341b16347f3615c&width=400&height=225)
![Rescuers clustered around the plane in rubber boats more than two hours after the crash, and could be seen pulling carry-on luggage from an open plane door. Wally Santana / AP Photo](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/XZRX66WQYLQG4KTIKXLUW63CP4.jpg?smart=true&auth=2c078ee1a55cb4234e54d914c50ca07c07e3766d388c629aca63231e09ee2d1d&width=400&height=225)
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/6TOEJTCY3NH4UCBDTHLJ53TGRQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=a5af6033a2f88da40fccf79588b818694c2f8cf793eacd2a921b03dc692ca41d&width=400&height=225)
![The death toll in the TransAsia Airways flight is expected to rise as rescue crews cleared the mostly sunken fuselage in the Keelung River a metres from the shore. Wally Santana / AP Photo](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/FLPXKO5P43QFYLJDIYMNXWHERA.jpg?smart=true&auth=5951989b428f9b3662a027b8fe5ecec3b95fd078ae71497cb7ece933cfc5380d&width=400&height=225)
![Emergency personnel work on top of the wreckage. AP Photo](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/6AHTCSSTHZQ5UFUKLTQDOMUBDU.jpg?smart=true&auth=3bbd21f5d63f362a6a6371ac9351af37eb8347eb536257dd4ebb9c2a8995b221&width=400&height=225)
![Teams of rescuers in rubber rafts clustered around the wreckage. Sam Yeh / AFP Photo](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/R7E4S27EYNPHSB35HHECC2C7MM.jpg?smart=true&auth=b7e19431801426fb3d1e2fb2a37615080d9c431c84d55f77fdf11d268bf81b0f&width=400&height=225)
![The ATR 72 prop-jet aircraft was flying on its side, with one wing scraping past Taiwan’s National Freeway No. 1 just seconds before it plunged into the river. Sam Yeh / AFP Photo](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/UWRGRE2TI7AV7RNOXKHA7CW5BQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=e793878892276bfaaa19ac8ca32c30b2a86b7cbfda3ea5593b2776a8a319473a&width=400&height=225)
![It was TransAsia’s second French-Italian-built ATR 72 to crash in the past year. Sam Yeh / AFP Photo](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/X6YOMKWHFRTWFPYG6WTRU4D7OE.jpg?smart=true&auth=9c08c3acd62bed1085d64abdbb125eb325f05cbdaf9051688ceb71f0f3b05839&width=400&height=225)
![Soldiers recover plane wreckage and passengers’ luggage. David Chang / EPA](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/P744JT5RZDYB2O4JR76IHAE67E.jpg?smart=true&auth=9a2d19664fe46c4e0736b3f578447df1a2abf99913474946e9797ede0b09c91f&width=400&height=225)
![A rescue crew carries a window from a TransAsia Airways ATR 72-600. Ashley Pon / Getty Images](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/HWZXNMNITBXRJUW4F6MNQQPMYA.jpg?smart=true&auth=0a0f4e44b7343b4ad261308778054fe87d5cd1101c7f8c60d478d708434ff1d6&width=400&height=225)
![CNA said the flight from Taipei to the outlying island of Kinmen lost contact with flight controllers at 10:55am (6.55am UAE) and the fuselage landed in the Keelung River near the city’s downtown Sungshan airport. Ashley Pon / Getty Images](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/5TG4O5TOLF7PPAWDGPO2UKETU4.jpg?smart=true&auth=aefbc710be5c4e49a07788c8ce8f6058c8b5d51ad20dead5f341b16347f3615c&width=400&height=225)
![Rescuers clustered around the plane in rubber boats more than two hours after the crash, and could be seen pulling carry-on luggage from an open plane door. Wally Santana / AP Photo](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/XZRX66WQYLQG4KTIKXLUW63CP4.jpg?smart=true&auth=2c078ee1a55cb4234e54d914c50ca07c07e3766d388c629aca63231e09ee2d1d&width=400&height=225)
Taiwan TransAsia Flight GE235 crash — in pictures
Mark Asquith
February 04, 2015
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