The blackbox of the TransAsia Airways plane that crashed into a river in Taiwan on Wednesday has revealed that the plane experienced an engine failure within seconds of take-off and that both the engines had lost power.
The blackbox analysis was revealed on Friday as the death toll rose to 35.
The pilot reportedly sent out a 'Mayday' call 35 seconds after noticing the engine failure, Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council Managing Director Wang Hsing-chung said on Friday, according to Reuters.
"The first engine experienced a problem 37 seconds after take-off at 1,200 feet," Wang said.
The black boxes stopped recording data one minute after the 'Mayday' call, he said.
The analysis corroborates accounts of survivors of the horrific plane crash who recalled feeling all was not right with the engine on the fateful day.
"There was some sound next to me. It did not feel right shortly after takeoff. The engine did not feel right," 72-year-old Huang Jin-sun, one of the 15 survivors, told ETTV television Thursday, according to The Associated Press.
The pilot had issued a Mayday call moments after the plane had taken off from Songshan Airport on Wednesday morning.
"Mayday, mayday, engine flameout," was the last distress call from the cockpit of the TransAsia Airways, suggesting that the flames in the engine's combustion chamber had gone out, causing it to shut down.
However, it has now come to light that both engine failed to produce enough thrust after take-off, and that the pilot had one apparently turned off and restarted a functioning engine, which failed to regain power in time.
Four more bodies were found near the crash site on Friday, bringing the toll up to 35, which is likely to rise as eight people are still unaccounted for.
